Peace Keeper
by jojoDO
Summary: With the world still in shambles, Raven's job is getting harder by the minute. How long can he quell the chaos before he tires himself out? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1: Public Disturbance

**I do not own or even work for Raven. But a fella can dream, eh? Also, I don't own Tekken.**

Raven tilted the glass upward, downing the hard drink in one gulp.

"Another" he said gruffly. As the bartender filled his glass, Raven let out a sigh.

"When am I gonna get a break from all this shit..." he muttered as he downed his drink. He had been working nonstop ever since the incident with the Mishima Zaibatsu. Thanks to Jin, the world was in disarray and Raven was being sent all over the globe to keep the peace. The ninja found himself getting weaker and weaker with each passing day. Pretty soon he would collapse if he didn't get a proper rest. It was times like this when he had yet to receive any orders that he really began to appreciate.

Raven put more money upfront and the bartender finally just left the bottle. He filled up his glass, not caring what debilitating effects alcohol might have in the performance of his duties. He was troubled; troubled by the chaos that was plaguing Japan at every corner. The violence and crime was at an all time high since Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima disappeared off the face of the Earth and left their companies disorganized and without a purpose in mind. There was no order anymore, just aftershocks of the war that almost destroyed the world.

"Hey, maybe you should stop." the bartender said. "You look like hell." Raven slammed his glass down and looked at the bartender.

"You don't know what hell is, buddy. Not until you've spent a day in my shoes."

The bartender scoffed and walked off once more. Raven stared at his own reflection in the now empty glass; he did look terrible. He could barely keep his head steady and he was afraid to take off his sunglasses and see what his eyes looked like. Was this the price he had to pay for trying to maintain peace and order in the world? The only solace he could find now was in cheap bar drinks?

Suddenly, the glass door swung open and in came a group of thugs armed with sub machine guns.

"EVERYBODY GET THE F*** OUT!" the leader shouted, spraying the ceiling with bullets. Everybody screamed and ran out with haste. Everybody but Raven that is.

 _Great. Looks like my break is over._

The head thug approached Raven and snatched his glass right from his hands, throwing it into a wall.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, scarface, but I said to get out of our f****** bar!" he spat.

Raven merely scoffed as he stood up and faced the attackers.

"Japan must have really let herself go if a shit eating degenerate like you is running around," he said smugly.

The head thug's face turned red as fire.

"You mother-!" he pointed his gun and fired, filling the bar full of holes. The other thugs joined in, firing their automatics in all directions. By the time their clips were empty, the joint looked nothing short of Swiss cheese. The thugs looked everywhere, but... no body!

The head thug dropped his gun in shock. "What the f-" was all he could mutter before a black flash appeared right in front of him. It was Raven.

"Missed, asshole."

Raven drew his blades and slashed the head thug's hands clean off. The man screamed loudly before falling on the ground, slipping into unconsciousness from shock and blood loss. The other thugs raised their guns and squeezed their triggers, only to hear nothing but clicks.

"Out of bullets?" Raven smirked. "That's why I use this."

He pulled out his shuriken and, leaping high in the air, threw it with the force of a baseball and the precision of a dart. The shuriken raced through the air and slashed the throats of all four of the grunts before sticking to the wall behind them. They all fell over at the same time as Raven removed his shuriken from the wall and sheathed it.

"Next time, pick a day when I'm on duty." Raven said to the dying thugs and walked out the bar. He walked past the bartender, who was crouching outside the doorway. He looked up at Raven, his hands on top his head and his mouth agape.

"You got a mess to clean up." Raven said as he got a running start before leaping into the air, disappearing from view.

 **WHAT? Some idiot is writing Raven fics?! Just point me towards him, I'll- oh. This will be my first multi chapter Tekken fic. Hope you Raven lovers enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2: Investigation

Raven flopped onto the bed in his room on the top floor of the Seahorse Hotel. Not even bothering to change, he took off his sunglasses and his earpiece and immediately closed his eyes. In mere seconds, the exhausted ninja was comatose.

 _"...come in. Raven, this is HQ, please respond."_

Raven's eyes shot open and he sprung to his feet. He took a look at the clock; only 20 minutes had passed. Letting out a loud groan, he inserted his earpiece and responded.

"Raven here, what's the sitrep?"

 _"I hope you're still in Japan, because we need you to investigate an incident."_ A low moan escaped from Raven's throat.

"Tell me" Raven muttered, rubbing his tired eyes.

 _"At approximately 2300 last night, the Tekken Force 5th Armored Division was jumped during a patrol in northern Shinjuku. There were no survivors."_

Raven sat down on the bed, put his hand on his chin and gave an intense expression.

"G Corp and the Zaibatsu are supposed to be at a cease fire at this time. You think there's still some some hostile forces?"

 _"That's what we want you to find out. I wish I could have let you know sooner, but we're currently investigating a situation near the Korean border. We need you to tackle this quickly and thoroughly. Can we count on you?"_

Raven got back to his feet and slipped on his sunglasses.

"Always."

Raven arrived at the scene in half an hour. Still groggy from the sudden awakening, he sat down on the rooftop of the building he was on and looked below at the chaos. The sirens had already stopped, but there were still barricades up and citizens were being shooed from the area. The wreckage from the Armored Personnel Carriers had yet to be cleaned up, and some were still on fire even. The bodies were still there.

"Let's piece this together nice and quick," Raven muttered to himself. He stood up and put his hands together, preparing the hand signals of ninjitsu.

"Rin! Pyo! Toh! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"

As Raven leaped from the building, his body began to fade in mid air. By the time he landed on the ground, he was completely invisible. He walked around the scene of the battle, making sure not to bump into any MPs on the scene. As he skimmed the ground, he noticed several unfamiliar bullet casings scattered about.

"What have we here..." Raven muttered as he bent down and picked up a spent cartridge.

"This is a .44..." he muttered "and the G Corp standard issue firearm is a 9 milimeter. This isn't right..."

He stood back up and leaped upward back to the building where he sat.

"Raven here." he said to his earpiece. "I found some spent casings for a .44 Magnum. Who do you know of that uses that kind of gun? Kazuya Mishima, perhaps?"

 _"Negative. Kazuya Mishima has no reason to attack indiscriminantly, especially when he considers the Mishima Zaibatsu to be his property. Besides, he's gone into hiding as of late."_

"You're being a bit hasty, don't you think? Kazuya would rather die than see the Zaibatsu in anyone elses hands. It's a classic case of "If I can't have you, no one can."

 _"Forget about that now. We have other intel on a potential suspect. I believe you're familiar with the individual known as Bryan Fury?"_

Raven's eyes widened. "Yes. A murdering psycopath. He just recently acquired a perpetual generator that has increased his lethality by 200%.

 _"According to our intel, he prefers the use of firearms to hand to hand combat. His particular favorites to use are a Spaz 12 pump action shotgun and... a .44 Desert Eagle."_

"That's as solid a lead as any. But why would he just..."

" _You've seen his profile as well as we have. His hobbies include attacking indiscriminantly and wanton destruction. He's never been a major problem until now, and I bet we have his new perpetual generator to thank for that. With limitless power, he can destroy as he pleases and no one can stop him."_

"Alright, that'll have to do. What are my orders?" Raven was almost afraid to ask that question; he already knew the answer.

 _"Bryan Fury has become a global threat. There's too much at stake to allow him to run free anymore. Kill him!"_

Raven let out a sigh. "Understood. But you better send somebody to help clear G Corp's name, or this civil war will start back as soon as it ended. Raven out."

Raven fell backwards and let out a loud groan. He was in no condition to fight, let alone eliminate one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth. He knew that Bryan Fury would most likely break him in half in a fight, but what was he supposed to do? Betray the organization that cared for him since he was young? Trained him to have the mind of a strategist and the body of a soldier?

"Orders are orders." Raven said aloud. He willed himself to his feet and, making a ninja hand motion, leaped into the sky and vanished into the clouds. A low rumbling sound emitted as a jet descended from the sky, with Raven in the cockpit.

"Now locating the target."

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3: Manhunt

With the intel uploaded to Raven's computer, Bryan's location wasn't hard to find. Being the threat to society he is, Bryan preferred dark, shady areas to take refuge in. Areas where no lawman would dare step.

Raven quickly input a command on his personal jet to fly upward into the clouds and sit idle. Though it was a terrible waste of fuel, it was better than it being discovered on a rooftop or in an alley. As Raven's jet flew high into the atmosphere, he quickly leaped out of it and landed on the rooftop of a run down apartment building. At 10:30 at night, there was hardly a sound to be heard.

"Let's do this quick and clean" Raven whispered to himself. He jumped across the rooftops, scanning the ground below him for any signs of movement. But the town was dead silent. Raven then decided to try something new. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of infrared goggles.

"Scanning" he said to himself as he looked through all of the buildings that seemed uninhabited. Aside from the occasional vagrant, there were no traces of the cyborg.

"Shit, maybe I missed him..."

Raven quickly took off the goggles and turned on his earpiece.

"HQ, come in. This is Raven. There's no sign of the target in the southwestern slums. Is he here or not?!"

 _"Check the apartment buildings. If you can't find his heat signature, at least find his room. Look for weapons and ammo. Go room by room if you have to."_

"Understood," Raven responded. As he prepared to infiltrate, he stopped and let out a loud yawn. He had spent the whole afternoon training for the fight instead of sleeping, and now he was starting to regret it.

"Ugh, here's hoping I don't find him tonight" Raven joked aloud.

Raven quickly leaped over to the run down apartment building and looked through the top floor window. Luckily the blinds were wide open. The lights were all off, but Raven's eyes were keener than most and locating vital signs was no difficult task.

"Woman. Man. Two children." Raven passed the room and made his way to another window on the top floor. The blinds on this window were simply torn down the middle, probably a sign of wear. Raven took off his sunglasses and squinted his eyes to get a better look.

"...Vacant." Raven pulled out his blade and quickly stuck it under the crack of the window. Gently applying pressure, he managed to lift the window just enough to get his fingers under it. Raven sheathed his blade and opened the window all the way, quietly slipping inside and closing it behind him.

"This is it" he muttered as he put on his infrared goggles. He walked down the halls, looking through the doors of each room. Most of them were filled with sleeping inhabitants, but none of the heat signatures looked like a muscular cyborg. Some apartments were also completely empty; those were the ones that were to be infiltrated.

Raven walked back down the hallway to the first empty apartment he found. He jiggled the handle; it was locked. Using a tiny pick, he managed to unlock the door and slip inside. He carefully observed the surroundings; the place was filthy, and that was an understatement.

"Who the hell would live here?" Raven asked himself as he looked under the beds in the bedroom. He looked through the cabinets, the fridge, and even the bathroom. The place had nothing but rodents and rodent droppings.

"Forget this place" Raven said, shutting the door behind him and making his way to the next empty room. Using the same method as before, he slipped in and quickly closed the door behind him.

Raven's eyes widened at the sight before him: handguns, grenades, knives, and RPGs scattered throughout the place. Raven made his way to the bedroom, looked under the bed and found almost a dozen AK 47 assault rifles stacked together. On the dresser lay a sawed off shotgun. As Raven observed the weaponry, he noticed one thing that didn't add up: there was no Spaz 12 or Desert Eagle to be found.

"Looks like I really did miss him. That means the son of a bitch is out right now!" Raven looked through the dressers, the cabinets: he had to find some kind of pertinent data. Finally he found a cell phone. He quickly flipped it open and skimmed through the messages. They were all dates and times. He scrolled to the most recent one, sent earlier today by an unknown number. It said:

ASSAULT ON G CORP BIO LAB TO COMMENCE AT MIDNIGHT. DON'T BE LATE.

"Midnight... that gives me 30 minutes!" Raven quickly pocketed the phone and prepared to depart when suddenly, he saw a red dot on his chest.

"That's far enough. Put your hand above your head, and get on the ground. Do it now!" the man yelled. Raven squinted his eyes to get a good look at his assailant. It was Lei Wulong of the International Police Department. Interpol.

"I won't tell you again. Get on the ground, or you will be PUT down!"

Raven simply scoffed and looked at the ignorant policeman with a slight smirk.

"I hope you're a good shot, officer."

 **Sorry if the muttering is getting annoying, but I just love making Raven talk to himself. He just seems like the guy who has to announce he's using the bathroom even if no one's around lol. Anyway, more chapters to come! I really don't know where I'm going with this, so it could go on forever for all I know. R &R!**


	4. Chapter 4: Interference

**I apologize in advance for shoddy fight scenes. I'm more of a lemon guy, honestly.**

Lei gave an intense expression as he held the gun on the secret agent. After about 60 seconds, he spoke again.

"You are really trying my patience. Who are you, and what are you doing in Fury's apartment?"

Raven merely stared at him, unflinching.

"You don't want to know that." Raven replied.

"And why not?"

"Because I have a license to kill, and those who learn my name lose their life."

"Are you threatening me?!"

"I'm just doing my job. Why don't you get out of here before I report that you interfered with my assignment? The people I know could make you disappear forever."

"That's it!" Lei squeezed the trigger rapidly, firing three rounds into the ninja's body. But to Lei's bewilderment, Raven's body faded to nothing!

"What the... a hologram?!" Lei lowered his gun and backed up slowly, looking left and right.

"Optic illusion." a voice said from above. Lei quickly looked up as Raven appeared in thin air and brought the sole of his foot down on the policeman's head. Raven gracefully landed on the other side of the room as Lei fell to the ground with a thud. Lei recovered and quickly scrambled for his gun, but the minute he picked it back up, a shuriken raced through the air and knocked it out of his hands. The pistol was now far out of reach.

"You seem awfully attached to your sidearm, Officer Wulong" Raven taunted, crossing his arms. "Your profile says you're skilled in kung fu. How about you fight me with your REAL skills?"

Lei quickly sprung to his feet, dusting himself off. "How the hell do you know about me?! Were you in the King of Iron Fist Tournament?"

"Only briefly" the ninja replied. "And to answer your other question; I know about you because it's my job to know. Officer Lei Wulong, formerly of the Hong Kong Police Department, but now working internationally. You were heralded for bringing down a syndicate based in the UK. If I recall correctly, it saved your career."

"That's enough!" Lei yelled, getting into Crane stance. "If you know so much about me, then you should know that Bryan Fury is MY case. I'm not about to let some secret agent wannabe waltz in and steal my kill!"

"Now we're talking" Raven said, getting into stance as well. "Show me that resolve."

Lei threw a low kick that caught Raven off guard. Raven cursed as he staggered, leaving himself wide open for Lei to deliver a headbutt with the force of a cannonball to his gut. Raven hit the ground and clutched his stomach in pain.

 _Shit! I'm still fatigued from practice, not to mention I haven't had a decent sleep in a while. I can't drag this out!_

Raven quickly twisted his body upward and shifted his weight into his leg to throw a sweep kick. Lei quickly did a mid air backflip to avoid the sweep, giving Raven the few precious seconds he needed to get back up. The two fighters closed distance between them as Lei was the first to attack.

"HEEEYAGH!" Lei shifted his body weight forward into a Tornado Kick. If it connected, Raven could be knocked unconscious right then and there, but if the move missed, Lei's momentum would throw his body forward and he would almost certainly lose balance. Luckily for Raven, it was the latter; he managed to duck under just before the devastating kick connected.

Lei didn't stumble like Raven expected, however; he used his momentum and did another Tornado Kick, and another. Lei was far away from Raven now, but the purpose of the kicks wasn't to deal any damage; Lei was using the kicks to keep his balance and distance himself after the missed attack. Finally Lei made it to the wall and was able to stop, but he was exhausted. Raven could hear him huffing loudly.

 _This is it!_ Raven thought aloud as he rushed toward the tired combatant. But Lei still had plenty of energy left. Lei got into Snake stance and quickly threw open handed jabs. Raven managed to evade two, but the third one struck him in the chest. Lei tried to take advantage of Raven's recoil to throw a Cannonball Headbutt, but Raven caught him before his head could connect with his stomach. Lei was now in a headlock. Raven could do some real damage now.

Raven raised his arm high and brought his elbow down on Lei's back with the force of a meteor. Lei cried out in pain as Raven elbowed him once more. Raven was relentless, raining elbow upon elbow upon the trapped policeman. Raven finally stopped elbowing him and decided to attack his inside as well. Lei's stomach was in perfect range of a knee and Raven did just that. Lei's yell turned into a wheeze as Raven's knee connected with his gut. And with that, Raven concluded his onslaught. Raven released Lei's head and shoved him forward. Lei was in serious pain, but he didn't go down.

"Not... over... yet..." Lei wheezed, struggling to stay on his feet. Raven could see the desperation in his eyes. This fight was nearing it's end. Lei gave a kiai that could pierce the heavens as he threw one last desperate punch at the ninja.

"This battle's over." Raven said as he caught Lei's punch with one hand. Raven then sprung high in the air and, still holding Lei's arm, vaulted over his head. A sickening crunch was heard and Lei's arm was bent backwards. Raven was now behind Lei, still holding his twisted arm. Lei cried out at the pain of his arm being twisted.

"BASTARD! I"LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I"LL- AUUUGH!"

Raven delivered a kick to the back of his leg, bringing the wounded policeman to his knees. He then finished the job with a hard chop to the back of his neck. Lei fell over, face first. He was no longer moving.

Raven sat down in the corner, breathing loudly. The fight took a lot out of him, and he didn't have much to begin with. He was wondering how the hell he could possibly take down Bryan Fury at this point. He had only mere minutes to recover from the fight and hunt down the terrorist before he assaulted a G Corporation research facility. For the first time, he was considering telling HQ he couldn't complete the mission. Maybe they would understand...

"No!" Raven yelled aloud. He jumped back to his feet and picked up his shuriken. "I'm not quitting no matter what. I have a duty to protect the world from madness. If I quit now, the world is doomed!"

He walked over to the unconscious Lei Wulong. Pulling out his handcuffs, he dragged Lei to the nearby fridge. Surprisingly, Lei woke back up. He even managed a few words.

"You... have to let me... kill him..."

"Stop talking." Raven commanded as he handcuffed Lei's good arm to the handle on the refrigerator door.

"Bryan... you don't know... what he's done... to me... or do you?"

"I have no information on your early life. But that doesn't matter." Raven knelt down and took of his sunglasses, staring Lei in the eyes with an intense expression.

"You're one of the good ones, Lei Wulong." he whispered. "A man of the law. Respectable. But you're ruining your life by clinging to old wounds. I don't know what Fury was to you, and I don't care. You have a duty to the world as well as I do, and you can't let personal affiliations get in the way of that."

Raven suddenly grabbed Lei's hurt arm and gave a sharp twist.

"EEEYAAAGH! YOU BAStaaaard..."

He was unconscious once again.

"There" Raven said, standing up. "You're arm is set. Now you can unlock yourself when you wake up. Raven took Bryan's cell phone out of his pocket and laid it next to the handcuffed officer.

"If I die, it's up to you. You have all the evidence you need to bring Fury in." Raven quickly slipped on his sunglasses and fled the apartment building. As he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, he pulled out a transmitter and pressed a button. Raven's jet descended from the sky with a low rumble. Raven quickly leaped in the cockpit and took off at full speed. He didn't know which G Corp lab was going to get hit, which meant time was of the essence. He would have to search them all and hope he wasn't too late.

 **The action's finally picking up, eh? Was the wait worth it? Or maybe my awful fight scenes are a disappointment to you? Anyway, the action doesn't stop here. The moment you've all been waiting for is next!**


	5. Chapter 5: Target Sighted

**This is probably my longest chapter yet. Just a reminder, I don't own Tekken. Enjoy this epic confrontation!**

Raven soared through the skies of Japan at breakneck speed, searching frantically for any signs of a battle in the nearby cities. He had already passed two G Corp facilities, and there was no activity whatsoever.

"Damn it. Why does G Corp have to be such a large company..." Raven muttered to himself as he continued looking for his target. Suddenly, his earpiece began to speak.

 _"Raven, come in!"_

Hoping to hear some news, Raven immediately responded.

"Raven here. Give me something."

 _"We're picking you up on radar. A large number of armed men are converging on a G Corp facility just west of your current route. We believe Bryan Fury is among the attackers. Intercept and eliminate them!"_

"Roger that."

Raven immediately turned his aircraft and began heading toward the designated area.

"Guess third time's the charm."

Raven arrived at the G Corp laboratory and saw nothing short of a massacre. The attackers, who seemed to be nothing but a group of methed out extremists, were charging towards a squadron of JACK 5s while frantically unloading on them with automatics. The bullets didn't seem to faze the robots, however, and they merely crushed the radicals with their powerful mechanical arms as they got closer.

Raven flew down to get a closer look. Sure enough, Bryan Fury was at the scene of the battle. He was laughing frantically while spraying the battlefield with an M61 Vulcan, not seeming to care as his comrades were killed by the mechanical monsters. By the time the bullets stopped, Bryan was the only one left. The JACKs suffered no casualties.

"Heh heh... HAHAHAHAHA! Looks like those f***ing pansies were worthless after all!" the cyborg yelled, cackling. He threw down his machine gun and approached the JACKs.

"Well... almost worthless. At least they served one purpose before giving up their miserable lives. They gave me the chance to face worthy prey like you!"

The first JACK approached Bryan slowly. It stopped for a second, most likely to observe the anatomy of the cyborg. Bryan merely waited in anticipation with a sadistic smile on his face. Finally, the JACK made it's move. Raising both fists in the air, the JACK brought them down on Bryan's head with the force of a two ton truck. To the JACK's surprise, however, Bryan caught both of its fists before they could connect. Then, with a loud grunt, Bryan used his immense strength to rip the JACK's arms from it's sockets. The robot was unfazed by this, and fired its rocket boosters, flying high in the air with the intent of crashing down on Bryan. As it descended, Bryan gave a chuckle and stretched out his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"That's right, come to papa!"

The JACK descended with the force of a meteor, but Bryan caught it by its feet with no trouble. Now holding the JACK, Bryan began to spin around and around, swinging the metal beast wildly before letting go of it. The JACK crashed headfirst into another, destroying both of them instantly.

"Heh heh, next!" Bryan yelled, cracking his neck and knuckles.

The third JACK ran at Bryan with murderous intent. Leaping high in the air, the Jack stuck its legs forward to make a sitting motion. The JACK's backside was now aimed directly at Bryan's head. If the JACK landed, Bryan would possibly be flattened. Luckily, Bryan was plenty fast enough to evade the JACK's crushing power. As the Jack landed butt-first into the concrete, Bryan put the full force of his weight into a devastating Slash Kick. The kick knocked the JACK several yards backwards before the robot tumbled into the nearby wall of the facility. Upon impact, the robot shattered to pieces.

The last two JACK's decided to rush Bryan together. The first swung its arms wildly, but the slow attacks were easy to dodge. Bryan ducked underneath a swing and saw his opportunity. Putting all of his strength into one punch, he drove his fist through the torso of the attacking JACK. As the second one closed in from behind, Bryan lifted the JACK off of the ground and threw it like a shot put. The JACK collided with its counterpart, exploding on contact and severely damaging the other.

The surviving JACK sparked and sizzled as its components shut down one by one. Bryan walked toward the half destroyed robot, a sickening smile on his face. Raven could only watch in horror as Bryan mounted the robot and brought his fists down on its face rapidly. He laughed maniacally while he rained down blow after blow. His punches were as fast as a machine gun and as forceful as two semi trucks.

Finally, Bryan stopped punching and got off of the now dead robot. The face was no longer recognizable; it was nothing but a mangled mess of wires and metal.

"Ah, that was amusing" Bryan said, admiring his handiwork. "Welp, time to call it a night."

 _This is my chance!_ Raven thought, pulling out his shuriken. _While he's recovering, I'll-_

But Raven didn't have time to finish that last thought. As Bryan started to walk away, he suddenly stopped and turned around, looking at the sky above him.

"Shit! Does he see me?!" Raven whispered loudly. His assumption was correct; Bryan gave a smile as he suddenly pulled out his Desert Eagle and starting shooting at the sky above.

"Dammit! Compromised!" Raven shouted as he pulled up on the controls of his aircraft to get it out of range. As Raven pulled up, the large .44 slugs punctured the engine. Smoke and fire starting spewing from the engine. An explosion was imminent.

"Alright, you bastard..." Raven spat. "You wanna wreck my jet? You're going with it!" Raven pushed down on the flight stick and flew directly at the deranged cyborg, going full speed. He leaped from the jet at the last second, landing gracefully on his feet as the jet crashed into Bryan with a massive explosion.

Raven panted loudly as he looked onward at the blazing inferno. The job was done. Raven put his hand up to his earpiece and activated it, preparing to make his report.

"Raven here, mission comple...?" But before he could even finish his sentence, a large silhouette emerged from the flames of the wreckage. Raven could only stare, mouth agape.

 _"Raven, repeat that last. Raven, respond."_ But the ninja couldn't even utter a word out of pure shock. The cyborg was completely unscathed.

"Hah! You shouldn't look so surprised, asshole. I'm not exactly a soft ass pile of skin like most people!"

Raven regained his composure and managed to speak. "You... why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Having fun? Hey, I'm just doing what I do best." Bryan cracked his neck as he spoke. "It's not my fault the world's gone to shit."

"Do you realize what you're doing?" Raven asked. "You're about to start another civil war here in Japan."

"Heh heh... you're the second person to tell me that."

Raven's eyes widened. Second?

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean, second?" he demanded.

"There was another secret agent lookin' guy trying to ruin my fun tonight. I'm afraid I got a bit too... passionate... and snapped his neck." Bryan gave a huge grin as he said those last words.

Raven started to back up, slowly. He put his hand to his earpiece.

"HQ, come in. I have news."

" _There you are. What the hell's going on out there?!"_

"Fury just shared some lovely information with me. Have you heard from Icarus?"

" _Not since we sent him to negotiate with the leaders of the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp. We were about to ask you to look into that."_

"No need. Icarus is dead. Apparently he ran into Fury tonight and tried to stop him. It didn't end well."

 _"Damn it! Why didn't he tell us? Cheeky bastard always tries to be the hero! Listen to me Raven, you've got to take Fury down for good. You're authorized to use any means necessary. Avenge our agent's death!"_

"That, you can damn well guarantee. Raven out." Raven shut off his earpiece and faced the cyborg, vengeance in his eyes.

"Awww, what's the matter?" Bryan teased. "Was that guy a friend of yours? A drinking buddy, perhaps?"

"Shut up!" Raven yelled, getting into fighting stance. "Bryan Fury, I have orders to eliminate you. Prepare yourself!"

Bryan merely smiled as he threw down his guns and got into stance.

"Show me what you got, ninja boy!"

Raven rushed toward him with lightning speed. Before Bryan could even blink, he received a kick square in the face, courtesy of the ninja. Bryan only laughed as he caught Raven's second kick and swung him by the leg, throwing him into the concrete.

 _Shit! The motherf***er can't even feel pain!_

Bryan raised his fist to punish the downed ninja, but Raven countered with a hard kick to his gut. The kick didn't face Bryan, but it jarred him long enough for Raven to recover. Using his hands, Raven sprung his feet forward and kicked Bryan in the face before backflipping to safety. As Raven recovered from the his injury, Bryan dusted off his cheek with his thumb as an insult to Raven's attack.

"Those are some nice kangaroo kicks you got there. Care to show me something new?"

"Gladly!" Raven yelled. He threw his shuriken and rushed forward. He matched his speed with the velocity of his thrown weapon to set up his combo. The shuriken raced forward and struck Bryan across the face. As Bryan's head drew back from the impact of the sharp projectile, he was completely blind to Raven's next attack. Raven rushed in and threw a devastating uppercut, knocking Bryan into the air. He then capitalized on the attack, leaping high in the air and bringing both of his feet down into Bryan's gut. As Bryan crashed back to the earth below, Raven's full weight on Bryan's stomach did crushing internal damage to the cyborg. Bryan actually cried out in pain: a sign that Raven's attacks were getting favorable results.

"GRAAAAH!" Bryan yelled as he flailed his arms wildly to distance the ninja. Raven backflipped to a safe distance as the cyborg got up slowly. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Raven's hand.

"Agh! God dammit!" he yelled as he clutched his hand. He was almost certain that uppercut had fractured something.

"I can't keep this up..." he muttered. He was wearing Bryan down, but he himself was more than a little tired. His muscles felt like jelly and even his eyesight was starting to blur. The longer he stood, the more difficult it became to keep himself afoot. His now broken hand only added to his fatigue.

"Huff...huff... I have to... end this... now!" Raven willed his tired body forward to attack Bryan for the third time. But Bryan was getting his second wind, and he was ready.

"Alright, so you got SOME moves. But it sounds to me like all those fancy flips have tired you out. Lucky for me..." Bryan anticipated Raven's jump kick and threw a Mach Punch, hitting Raven directly in his left ribs. Raven cried out as he felt his ribs crack, his yell turning into a pitiful gasp of air. The punch launched him with the force of a missile as Raven's body flopped and rolled across the ground. He felt like he slid for miles across the hot asphalt before stopping.

"... this body doesn't get tired."

Raven gasped and wheezed as he rolled onto his side. He couldn't even move now; the pain was too great. He coughed and spit blood, cursing at his recklessness. He had gotten desperate and lowered his guard, and now it's costed him big time.

Bryan's footsteps drew nearer and nearer. Raven shut his eyes and tried to tune out his maniacal laughter. Was this really it it? This was his legacy?

"Whoops, guess I got a little too rough. The toy's broken." Bryan laughed. "Ah well, I was getting bored anyway." Bryan raised his Spaz 12 shotgun and, after putting in a couple of shells, cocked it and pointed the cannon directly at Raven's head.

Raven opened his eyes and rolled over, looking his victorious opponent in the eyes. He coughed and gasped, but managed to utter a few defiant words.

"G-g... give me your best shot... asshole."

That was all he could mutter before his blurry vision turned to darkness.

 **Oh dear, our ninja's in quite a pickle. Don't worry, I love Raven too much to kill him. You'll just have to keep reading to find out what happens next! (lol thanks Captain Obvious)**


	6. Chapter 6: Recovery

**Another day, another chapter. I really can't help it! But don't worry, this story is fairly long. And don't let the single character tag fool you: there will be quite a few characters in the next chaps. Enjoy**!

Raven awoke in an unfamiliar area. Groggy from immediately waking up, he quickly came to his senses and observed his surroundings. He was laying in a makeshift bed in what looked like a wooden hut. He peered out of the window right next to him; more wooden huts, but... inside trees?!

"Is this... a treehouse?" Raven quietly asked himself. He tried to sit up, but the pain of his broken ribs was still too great. He let out a wince and clutched his injured abdomen, but he felt something there and it wasn't his ninja garb. Quickly throwing aside the sheets, Raven then realized he was shirtless and his torso was bandaged.

"Someone must have rescued me... but who?"

"Good, you're awake." a voice said. Raven quickly turned to find the source of the voice.

"You... you're the last person I expected to rescue me." Raven said, surprised. His rescuer was none other than Yoshimitsu of the Manji Party.

"The Manji Party was formed to help those in need." Yoshimitsu said. "And for someone who took on Bryan Fury, you're quite lucky to still be alive TO help."

"How do you know... ah, forget it. How long have I been out?"

"48 hours" Yoshimitsu replied. "You seem to be healing at an extraordinary rate. The medicine we gave you is also speeding up the process."

Raven gave a scoff. "That's funny, I don't feel any better. Wait, did you say two days?! I have to... where's my earpiece?!"

"Relax" Yoshimitsu said, holding up Raven's communication device. "I will give it back to you, however I must ask that you do not inform anybody of our location."

"I won't. You have my word. Now, could I ask you to leave me for a moment?"

Yoshimitsu gave a nod and exited the hut. Raven turned around and activated his earpiece.

"This is Raven. Does anybody copy? Somebody, respond!" Luckily for Raven, his superiors were always quick to respond.

 _"Raven?! Thank God you're okay! We lost your signal for 48 hours! Tell me, where the hell are you?"_

"My location... is unknown. Tell me, what's Central Japan's current status?"

 _"It's hell over there, that's the current status! The attackers of the Mishima Zaibatsu patrol and the G Corporation Facility were revealed to be an anarchist group of radicals looking to keep the war in Japan alive. They were all confirmed dead after a battle with G Corporation JACKs except for one Bryan Fury, who is now missing. There's a warrant out for his arrest after evidence was found at his apartment linking him to the group. It's highly probable that he was taking advantage of their dissolution to spread wanton chaos and destruction._

"Looks like Wulong pulled through for me..." Raven muttered with a small grin.

 _"If you're able, we need to you get back to Central Japan immediately!"_

"Roger that. Fury may have got me once, but not this time."

 _"Negative, Bryan Fury is no longer your primary objective."_

"What?! But the bastard killed our agent!"

 _"I hate to say it but, we have a bigger problem than that. At approximately 1300 hours yesterday...the Mishima Zaibatsu disbanded the cease fire and attacked the G Corporation."_

Raven couldn't believe what he was hearing. All of that work, for nothing? The fight against Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, Azazel... all of that was a wasted effort?

 _"You still there?"_

Raven quickly composed himself. "Yes, I'm still here. What the hell happened? Don't they know by now who was responsible?"

 _"Yes, but it seems that the current leaders of the warring companies, Anna Williams and Nina Williams, have had bad blood between them since childbirth. Ever since Jin and Kazuya's disappearance, Eddy Gordo and Bruce Irvin have been keeping them in check, but the death of Eddy's Capoeira master has caused him to leave the Zaibatsu due to his emotional crisis. Almost simultaneously, Bruce Irvin of the G Corporation has disappeared. There is no further information on his disappearance at this time._

"So what you're trying to say is... the two sisters have taken control and they're using this war as an opportunity to end their lifelong feud?"

 _"Correct, and now that their subordinates are gone, there's nobody to stop them. Their hatred will divide the country and hundreds of thousands of lives will be lost in their personal conflict._

That was all Raven needed to hear. Willing his aching body out of bed, he slipped on his ninja garb and sunglasses.

"What are my orders?"

 _"You have to stop this conflict from reawakening any more than it already has! Go to the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation Headquarters and convince the sisters to lay down their arms. If they refuse, you have permission to use lethal force. Eliminate them fast and get the hell out of there! We'll sort out the rest later. We're counting on you, Raven!"_

Raven loved to hear those words.

"I won't let you down" he said, almost smiling. But before he could even take a step, he collapsed.

"Dammit!" he cried, clutching his afflicted area. "I'm still not strong enough..."

"You cannot go in your condition" Yoshimitsu said, reentering the room. He lifted Raven up and gently placed him back in the bed.

"You don't understand" Raven argued. "I have a duty to maintain peace and balance in the world. It's what I was trained to do. It's... what I was born to do."

"Then you will need to get well quickly." Yoshimitsu replied. "You will stay the night and continue to rehabilitate. I will prepare a meal for you that will help you regain your strength. If you are feeling well in the morning, then I will see what I can do to help you towards your goal."

"You.. would do that for me? I thought we were-"

"There is no animosity between us. I consider you to be a worthy opponent and maybe even an ally. Now stop talking and rest up for tonight. I have Manji subordinates nearby, so don't think about leaving."

Yoshimitsu exited the tent and left Raven to dwell on everything that has happened. All the ninja could do was stare at the ceiling, wondering what it's all for.

 _Why do I do what I do? In the long run... what has my job accomplished? The world is a miserable place full of madness and war, and that will never change. So why do I even bother?_

That's when Raven started to remember the promise he made: to the most special person in his life.

FLASHBACK

 _"Listen to me, son. I want you to understand the reason for me teaching you the art of Ninjitsu. Throughout history, Ninjitsu has been known as an art of killing. That's true even to this day. But you must understand_ _that the sacred art does not have to be used for evil. Sometimes, to make the world a better place, you must do things that are against human morals. But you mustn't allow it to corrupt you. Remember what you do it for... to protect and maintain the balance of the world. There will always be good and evil in the world, but never must evil be allowed to get out of control. I teach you this art now, so that you may devote your life to quelling the madness that exists in this twisted universe we live in. Promise me that you will be... a peacemaker."_

END FLASHBACK

"I promised, father." Raven said, still staring at the ceiling. "As long as I draw breath, I'll see that promise through."

 **Sorry if things got a little cheesy, but the guy NEEDS some backstory. Even if it is fanfiction. Anyway, more chapters to come. R &R and I don't just mean you, FNAFFRENZYCAT! (Kudos to you, my friend ^_^)**


	7. Chapter 7: Resuming Mission

Raven woke up later that night. Despite his condition, he was actually feeling better than he had in quite a while. At least one upside to getting the crap knocked out of you by Bryan: you sleep pretty well.

He was finally able to ease himself out of bed and get to his feet with little trouble. Wanting some fresh air, Raven exited the hut and took a deep breath, taking in the cool night air. It was just cool enough that it felt refreshing without causing discomfort. Suddenly, two guys in masks approached him.

"Ah, you finally woke up." the first guy said. "Come with us. Dinner is almost ready."

"Sounds good to me" Raven said. He didn't want to admit it, but he was quite famished from not eating for a whole 48 hours.

"Can you make this jump?" The second masked guy asked as they approached the edge of the branch.

"Heh, who do think I am?" Raven said with a scoff. Without hesitation, he leaped from the top of the tree and landed perfectly on the ground. Upon hitting the ground, however, all the pain started flooding back almost instantly.

"GOD DAMN IT!" Raven yelled as he fell over on his side. The two Manji landed beside him and helped him back to his feet.

"Just as I thought. You've overexerted yourself already."

"Yeah, well just don't let Yoshimitsu know or he'll keep me here longer."

The three of them made their way to a large campfire where all of the Manji clansmen were gathered. They were roasting what looked like a huge deer and there were also fish cooking as well. The smell nearly drove Raven mad as his stomach started making noises they had never made before.

"Glad you could make it." Yoshimitsu said, beckoning Raven to sit beside him.

"The food is ready. You will recieve extra to regain your strength quicker."

"That's not necessary," Raven said, scratching his head. Secretly, he wanted to consume everything by himself. Yoshimitsu insisted, however, and filled his bowl all the way to the top with what looked like fish and deer meat stewed with wild plants picked from the forest. Raven didn't care what was in it; he downed the whole bowl in a matter of minutes.

"You have a healthy appetite, a good sign indeed." Yoshimitsu pulled out a bottle of sake and filled two cups, passing one to Raven who graciously accepted.

"Take this. We drink to your speedy recovery." The two ninja drank until their cups were empty, which were then filled to the top again.

"You never told me how you saved me." Raven said, looking to make conversation.

"I witnessed your battle with Bryan from afar. My colleagues and I track his movements at all times, waiting for him to lower his guard. We were about to strike when he shot you down and nearly killed you. I chose to save your life over taking vengeance upon the devil."

"Again, I'm very grateful for that. But I must know, what is your history with Fury? Seems like the guy has quite a few enemies." When Raven asked that, Yoshimistu immediately stopped drinking and put down his cup. He then turned and faced Raven directly, a serious look on his face.

"...as I said, the Manji Party's purpose is to lend aid to whoever needs it, be it a close friend or a complete stranger. The man named Bryan Fury once seeked to test my might in combat, and I gladly obliged. We fought to a draw in the third King of Iron Fist Tournament, and I respected his strength and prowess. Two years later, I faced him again at the fourth tournament, and soundly defeated him. However, I sensed that something was off. He didn't put his entire being into the fight. He pulled punches and made several mistakes. It's almost as if... he had lost the will to fight or even live."

"He was... dying?" Raven asked, refilling his cup.

"That was confirmed later when I found him unconscious. I carried him to my old friend Dr. Boskonovitch, a brilliant scientist. He deduced that the power source installed in Bryan to keep him alive was failing, and a new one must be inserted. However, my friend took it a step further; he mechanized him almost completely. He also infused him with a power source that would never stop working: a perpetual generator.

"Limitless power... but what could the doctor have been thinking, giving a maniac such power?" Raven asked, downing his fourth cup of sake.

"Unfortunately, I have my own ignorance to blame for that. It was I who assumed he was honorable and just. It wasn't until he... killed my people... that I realized my foolishness,

"You mean he turned on you? Right there and then?"

"Precisely. He repaid our generosity with treachery, attacking and killing my comrades when he realized what we had given him. Now he runs free to this day with unlimited power at his fingertips... and it's all my fault." With those words, Yoshimitsu suddenly felt the urge to drink again.

"That's terrible. Fury deserves to pay for what he's done!" Raven yelled, smacking the ground.

"And he shall" Yoshimitsu replied, drinking straight from the bottle. "Otherwise I'll never be free."

"Free?" As Raven pondered what he meant by free, Yoshimitsu dropped the now empty bottle and pulled out a sword that glowed with an evil miasma.

"This is my sword, called Yoshimitsu." he said, holding it high. "It's a sword of great and terrible power. It's wielder must strike down those of evil to sate it's hunger for blood. But now, no matter how many wretches I fell... it's not enough." Yoshiitsu put his hand to his head like he had a headache.

"I can feel it growing in me... clawing to be released! Anger, rage, bloodlust... the most evil of feelings dwelling within me. Soon, I will be consumed by it! However, there is a way: one way to erase the evil that seeks to release itself." He swung the sword and pointed it to the stars.

"Bryan Fury must die by my hand!"

"Well, you certainly deserve to be the one" Raven said. "And I'll be right beside you, taking vengeance for MY colleague."

"A generous offer... but one I cannot accept." Yoshimitsu replied, sheathing the sword.

"What? Why not? I have some unfinished business with him as well!"

"I have told you all I can. You just have to understand... it can only be me. Please, try to understand the story I've told you." Though Raven did understand, it still wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Very well then." he finally said, letting out a small sigh. "I guess I'll have to entrust that task to you. Just remember who you're fighting for when you take down that bastard."

"You have my word, comrade. Now, I suggest you get some sleep for tomorrow. I'm taking you back to civilization to complete YOUR mission. Yoshimitsu stood up and helped Raven to his feet.

"How exactly am I going to sleep tonight? I've slept all day."

"Hohoho, you don't have to worry about that. The sake we drank contains a powerful sleeping agent, so we're sure to be well rested for tomorrow."

"Sleeping... agent?" As the words left Raven's mouth, he could already feel his eyes getting heavy.

THE NEXT MORNING

The night seemed to pass quickly. As the sun rose, Raven was already prepared for his trip back to Central Japan. He was in his hut meditating, awaiting further instruction. His body was still in pain, but there was no more time to waste. He had to return and put an end to the war: even if it kills him.

Finally, a Manji ninja entered his hut.

"The master is ready to depart, sir."

Raven stood up and put on his sunglasses.

"Just what I wanted to hear." he said with a smile.

 **Raven returns to the fray! Will he put an end to the sisters' war of hatred? There's only one way to find out! Oh, and a review or two wouldn't hurt.**


	8. Chapter 8: The War Continues

Raven and Yoshimitsu made their way back to Central Japan inside a helicopter that the Manji had commandeered. As he got closer to his objective, Raven started to take deep breaths; could he really stop a war on his own?

"Calm yourself," Yoshimitsu said, sensing Raven's anxiety. "You won't fight well unless you stay calm and composed."

"Understood" Raven said. But he still couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of his stomach. His hand still hurt and his ribs were still fractured, and there was the possibility he would have to fight two of the deadliest fighters in the world? This helicopter ride was suddenly starting to feel like a one way trip.

Yoshimitsu finally eased off on the throttle, bringing the helicopter to a stop right above a tall, isolated building.

"This is as far as I go." he said. "The rest is up to you." Raven nodded and prepared to drop, but he turned to Yoshimitsu one last time.

"I just wanted to thank you for all you've done." he said stoically. "I would be dead if not for you. If you ever change your mind about wanting my help against Bryan, don't hesitate to find me."

"Your offer is appreciated, but I doubt we will meet again. We have two different paths to follow. Yours is a path of peace, and mine is a path of vengeance. Perhaps fate will allow us to meet again at the tournament, but I only hope that is after our ordeals have ended. Farewell, keeper of the peace."

Raven nodded and leaped from the helicopter as it started to speed off. Landing on the rooftop, Raven folded his arms and watched as the helicopter disappeared into the distance. He was on his own from here on.

As Raven raced across the rooftops, he started to hear the sound of gunfire off in the distance. Enjoying his last few minutes of silence, Raven sped forward with the speed of a hurricane, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the blink of an eye. As he got closer to the sounds, the environment started to look a lot different. Buildings were crumbled and vehicles were either on fire or flattened like pancakes. Raven even spotted a few bodies laying around. Civilian bodies.

"A battle is up ahead. A big one..." Raven muttered as he leaped ahead. The gunfire was getting extremely loud now and Raven could also hear the explosion of artillery shells. Finally Raven made it to the main square, and witnessed a horrid sight before him.

"Holy..." he said aloud. The G Corporation was in an intense shootout with the Tekken Force. Both sides advanced behind tanks, which were firing frantically in almost all directions. From above, a G Corporation helicopter strafed the ground with minigun fire, killing multitudes of Tekken Force soldiers and even some of their own as well.

Raven got down low and watched the massacre continue. The helicopter fired a barrage of rockets, destroying a Zaibatsu tank and blowing away countless men standing near it. It flew too low, however, and a Tekken Force soldier fired an unguided rocket launcher which hit it dead on. The helicopter spiraled out of control in before landing on the ground in a ball of fire. The crash not only killed the pilots instantly, but also a squadron of G Corp soldiers advancing with anti tank weapons. The Tekken Force took advantage of the confusion and their tanks fired a barrage of explosive rounds, blowing away the main assault force instantly.

"RETREAT!" the commanding G Corp officer yelled. The G Corp, losing momentum, started to turn around and pull back. This was the opportunity the Zaibatsu had been waiting for. Advancing with the tanks up front, the retreating soldiers were blown to pieces as the foot soldiers picked off the stragglers with burst fire weapons. The G Corporation had been annihilated.

"Good work men. Now we press forward to the headquarters!" the commanding Tekken Force officer yelled.

But just as the tanks rolled forward, a pair of projectiles sped out of nowhere and struck two of the tanks, causing them to explode instantly. Raven had to take off his sunglasses to get a look at what just happened.

"What the hell was that?!" a soldier yelled. Suddenly another projectile flew out of nowhere and punched a hole through the last tank. It immediately stopped moving.

"Dammit! AMBUSH!" the commander yelled as the soldiers pointed their guns in all directions. A grenade like projectile bounced out of nowhere and landed right next to a group of unsuspecting soldiers. Raven squinted to get a closer look at the strange grenade. Was that... someone's head?!

"What the fu-" a soldier uttered before an explosion took them all out instantly. Just as the explosion hit, a young man leaped from seemingly out of nowhere and attacked the confused men. He threw a roundhouse which struck two in the face, sending them flying. One tried to point his gun, but the young man was too fast. He shoved the gun upward with one hand and drove his fist into the soldier's gut. A purple spark of electricity flashed through the soldier's body as he fell over like a domino. Unfortunately, the man had raised too much attention; a squadron of soldiers quickly swarmed him, pointing their guns and switching to full auto.

Raven observed the man closely. He was slender but quite built, and had a mountain of golden spiky hair. He was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt with jeans.

"Lars... It's Lars!" Raven said aloud.

"Alisa!" Lars yelled loudly. Almost as if on cue, a pink haired girl swooped in and extended her leg, sweeping the entire squadron off their feet as she flew by them. She then landed gracefully on her feet. As the soldiers got back up, she pointed her arms as if to fire a projectile. But to the soldiers' surprise, her arms flew from her sockets like missiles! Her arms flew forward and bashed through all of them in one fell swoop. They didn't get back up.

"So that's what blew up the tanks. That robot's as deadly as ever..." Raven said.

Alisa stuck her arm stumps in the air. Almost instantly, two new arms grew where hers had detached. She smiled as Lars walked up to her and gave her a high five.

"I see you two are still as powerful as ever" Raven said with a smile, leaping down from the building.

Lars merely gave him a strange look.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Raven stared at him with a frown before Lars cracked a smile.

"Don't give me that amnesia shit," Raven said, punching his shoulder. "You and I both know you're long past that."

"So what brings you back to Japan?" Lars asked. "As if I don't already know."

"Civil War Part 2, that's what. I was sent here to put an end to Jin and Kazuya's bullshit, and now their lackeys have picked up where they left off." Raven took off his sunglasses and massaged his eyes. "To be honest, I'm really getting sick of this place."

"Yeah you and me both" Lars said with a chuckle. I intend to go to back to my native home in Scandinavia soon. But I had to pick up a certain someone first." He put his arm around Alisa, who waved at Raven with a shy smile.

"I see Chaolan fixed her up quite nicely." Raven said, giving the robot a nod. "I'm glad you two were able to reunite. You just... don't seem right without each other."

"Yeah, well I'm never making that mistake again. Alisa is staying with me, no matter what." He turned to her. "Right?"

"Yes!" Alisa exclaimed. "Since my father is no longer here, I have no reason to stay in this country. My initial plan was to stay with Lee Chaolan, the man who resurrected me. However, Lars found me again and offered to take me with him back to his home country. I have decided that wherever Lars goes, I wish to go as well. I believe it's what humans call 'companionship'."

"That's good news. But what are you guys doing here in the middle of this war?"

Lars scratched his head. "Call it a misguided sense of obligation, or just plain stupidity. But I just can't bear the thought of Japan being torn apart by war. Most of the major cities are a warzone now, so I figured I'd head for the main headquarters of the companies to strike at the heart of the chaos."

"We are within close proximity of the G Corporation Millenium Tower." Alisa chimed in. "However, the headquarters is under siege by Mishima Zaibatsu forces from the north and the west. Their defenses are diminishing."

"Then we have to hurry!" Raven yelled. "There's no sense in letting one corporation destroy the other when we can save them both. I've been sent here to "remove" Nina and Anna Williams from their administrative positions, but I don't think I can do it alone. Will you fight alongside me once again?"

"Heh, well I do still owe you for taking down that NANCY," Lars said, putting his hand on Raven's shoulder. "You've got my help."

"I shall assist as well!" Alisa said with a smile.

"Then let's not waste any time." Raven said, slipping on his shades.

"Let's go pay Anna Williams a visit."

 **The old team is back together! Will Lars and Raven kick ass together? Will Alisa chainsaw stuff? Keep reading and find out! (psst and review please. thank you ^_^)**


	9. Chapter 9: Infiltration

After a two hour trek through the war torn streets, Raven, Lars, and Alisa finally arrived at the G Corporation Millennium Tower. Surprisingly, the place had fallen silent. Lars parked his black SUV one block down the road, and the tree of them continued on foot. Finding the closest building that would give them a vantage point, Raven leaped up to the rooftop. Alisa followed shortly behind with Lars in her arms.

"Alright, if you don't mind I'll be taking command of this operation." Raven said sternly. "Alisa, I need you to perform the best recon you've ever done."

"Yes sir!" she said with a smile and flew off to patrol the nearby blocks. Lars and Raven took a seat on the rooftop and stared out in the distance. The tower was secure, with tanks and JACK 5s flooding the perimeter. The soldiers had set up barbed wire emplacements and barricades as they waited eagerly with their rifles cocked.

"Just look at that pathetic sight." Raven said with a scoff. "Seems like all of it was for naught, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Lars asked.

"The journey you and Alisa went on. You fought so long, so hard... and now where did it get you? The war has only intensified since Jin and Kazuya's defeat. Doesn't it just piss you off?"

Lars put his hand on his chin. "Yes it does. The truth is, I'm so angry I could break the neck of every grunt down there. At the very least... I wanted to get Alisa away from this!" His fists clenched tightly, but then eased off.

"But..." he continued "I've accepted the reality of it. Restoring peace to the world will never be as simple as we want it to be. We could end this war, rebuild Japan, even lock up every criminal in the country, and it would still be just a snowflake of peace in a snowstorm of chaos. It's impossible to achieve true peace."

"But we do the best we can, don't we?" Raven said with a chuckle. "We're just tiny, insignificant humans trying to make a difference. We know it's impossible, but we're too stupid to do any different."

"Uh... that's... the most philosophical I've ever heard you be." Lars said with an awkward smile.

"I know. Pay me no mind," Raven said with a chuckle. They continued to scope out the area until Lars finally spoke again.

"You know, I bet you were talking about yourself."

"What makes you think that?' Raven asked.

"It's your job, isn't it? To maintain order. Why do YOU continue to fight, Raven? Why do you try to restore balance to a doomed world?"

Raven was quiet for a second, but then turned to Lars with a small grin.

"The same reason you're here now."

Suddenly Alisa came swooping in, panting loudly.

"A large platoon of Tekken Force soldiers are headed this way! I am unsure whether the G Corporation emplacements will be enough to hold them back!"

"Alright, what now?" Lars asked Raven. Raven thought long and hard before standing up.

"Alright, I'll take things from here. Listen carefully: even if we convinced Anna to cease fire now, we still couldn't stop the Mishima Zaibatsu from attacking. Therefore, we're going to wait for the shooting to start before we make our move. You guys get me to that tower and I'll handle the rest. As soon as I'm there, you guys get the hell out of sight and await my return. Got it?"

The two of them nodded.

"Alright then. Mission is a go."

Alisa gasped and stood straight up.

"Tekken Force approaching. ETA 43 seconds." she proclaimed before sitting back down.

"Alright, let's move. Alisa, grab Lars." Raven leaped from the building and Alisa carried Lars down. They began to move as the Tekken Force approached the G Corp fortifications and opened fire. The steel barricades withheld the tank shells, but men were still falling. Soldiers armed with Javelin missile launchers approached the front line and fired high in the air. The missiles soared through the sky before zeroing in on the tanks and destroying them one by one.

As the G Corporation tanks began moving forward, JACKS soared through the air leading the counterattack. They flew high before landing inside enemy lines with earth shattering force, sending Tekken soldiers flying, The nearby soldiers sprayed the JACKS with their automatics, but no avail. With a loud barbaric cry, the JACKS swung their arms and knocked aside troops like rag dolls.

Suddenly, an unmanned helicopter flew in from the east. It seemed to have no weapons, but instead had a powerful voice transmitter equipped to it. As it hovered over the battlefield, a voice began to speak.

 _"ATTENTION, ATTENTION. THIS IS YOUR SUPREME COMMANDER. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO ELIMINATE ANY AND ALL HOSTILE FORCES AND G CORPORATION PERSONNEL. HOWEVER, ANNA WILLIAMS IS TO BE TAKEN ALIVE. ANYONE WHO FIRES ON HER WILL ANSWER TO ME! THAT IS ALL."_

The message broadcast just in time before a stray missile blew the helicopter out of the sky.

"We've got to stop this!" Lars yelled. "I suggest we steal an aircraft while we're here so we can fly straight to the Zaibatsu headquarters and end this!"

"Roger that!" Raven replied. "Change of plans then! After you two cover me, wait five minutes after I'm inside and then head for the rooftop! There's a good chance Kazuya's personal chopper is parked there! Alisa, can you make it that high carrying Lars?"

"Affirmative!" Alisa yelled.

"Good. Then let's get started!" Raven rushed forward with a burst of speed, taking advantage of the chaos to slip through the defenses. As he got closer to the tower, however, he was spotted by a G Corporation tank. Before it could squeeze of a shot, Alisa flew in and, dropping Lars, fired her arms at supersonic speed. Her arms ripped through the tank, blowing it to pieces. Lars hit the ground with a roll before leaping back to his feet. Two soldiers approached him and fired. Dashing forward, he ducked underneath their aim and performed a low spinning backhand, knocking them off their feet. Using his momentum, he spun back around and unleashed a kick into the stomach of a charging soldier. The soldier went flying and knocked over the guys behind him like bowling pins.

A high ranking G Corp soldier with a stun club approached from behind and swung. Lars could hear his battle cry a mile away, and with a scoff jumped high and backflipped over his head. Now behind the soldier, Lars snaked one arm around his neck and lifted him high off the ground. With a hard jerk Lars snapped his neck, a burst of electricity flowing through his body afterward. He let go of the soldier as he fell to the ground like a lifeless puppet.

Raven continued to run at blazing speed, dodging gunfire left and right. As he got closer to the building he leaped high and decided to use the attacking soldiers as stepping stones. He leaped across their heads one by one, the crushing power of his foot breaking their helmets and knocking them to the ground. As he landed, a few brave soldiers tried to fight him hand to hand. Catching a thrown punch, Raven drove his knee into the attacker's stomach before judo flipping them onto the ground. He then knocked out two more instantly with a spinning jump kick to the face.

Finally he reached the building. It was just as big as he remembered it the first time.

"Time to take a little detour" Raven said. Mustering up all the energy he had left, Raven began to sprint up the tower instead of going through the front door. He was making good time and going at super speed, but he was slowly starting to get tired. His insides soon felt like they were on fire and his breathing became labored.

 _Higher. Higher! Almost... there!_

Raven's vision was starting to blur. He felt like he would pass out if he went any higher. But he continued to persist, forcing himself upward with every ounce of power left in his weary body.

 _I can't go any...higher... I've got to... stop!_

Raven decided he was high enough, and with a yell, he threw his body through the nearby glass window. He laid on the floor for a second, panting and wheezing loudly. He was now bleeding from multiple areas thanks to the immediate stop he just made.

"Gotta... keep... moving..." Raven told himself between pants. He laid on his back and took deep breaths. He closed his eyes and allowed his body to calm down from the strenuous activity he performed. After 30 more seconds of deep breathing, he got back to his feet and made his way to the nearby elevator. There were two guards standing there.

"Hey, stop right there! The stun club wielding soldier yelled. Raven grabbed his arm and snapped it, complete with a sickening popping sound and the man screaming like a banshee. He then used the soldier's now broken arm to stab the other guard with his stun club. The electric shock floored him instantly. Raven finished off the man he was holding by bending his head over his knee and delivering a chop to his neck. With Raven's knee under the guard's neck preventing recoil, his neck was broken instantly by the chop.

Raven threw the guard's lifeless body on the floor and got inside the elevator. Pressing the top floor button, he closed his eyes and meditated on the battle that may soon happen.

 _Anna's a tough one from what I saw in the tournament. She utilizes Aikido much like her sister, but with her own personal touch. She won't be easy..._

Finally, with a ding, the doors swung open. There was a single door in front of Raven which most likely led to her office. But it was what was in front of the door that really concerned him: standing guard was JACK 6, the one and only of its kind.

"Shit... is that what I think it is?" Raven said, massaging his temple. JACK 6 was so advanced that the cost to mass produce it would have bankrupted the G Corp five times over. The one and only to be made, Anna was now in control of the robot and programmed it for her personal protection. The only way Raven could make it to her now was to take down the behemoth.

"Whole day just gets better and better" he muttered, getting into his fighting stance. JACK 6 let out an obnoxious laugh as he slowly clanked forward.

 **I have to stop this chapter now, but only because I'm tired and it's a good place to leave you hanging. Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Entrance Secured

**Man, I'm on a roll with updates lately! I would like to point out that in the last chapter, Raven risked his life to climb up the tower only to take an elevator when he got inside -_-**

 **You can either assume that only the elevators near the top take you to Anna's office, or you can chalk it up as one of my stupid moments in writing. Btw, this story may soon feature character death. I will only warn you this one time.**

The battle continued to rage on the ground as the Mishima Zaibatsu pushed forward. They were suffering staggering losses, however, and the G Corporation continued to hold their own. Lars and Alisa finally managed to get away from the intense shooting and get out of sight.

"Alisa, are you okay?" Lars asked, panting.

"Yes, I am unharmed." Alisa said, also letting out a few pants.

"Can you still make the flight to the rooftop? Remember, we have to rendezvous with Raven there once he takes care of business."

"Yes, let's go right now!" Alisa shouted. She scooped up Lars in her arms and fired her rocket boosters, descending high above the battlefield.

"What the... those bastards are heading up the tower! Shoot them!" a G Corp soldier yelled.

"Forget it, we have other problems! Let security handle them!" the officer in charge yelled. "Alright boys, let's send these bastards crying home to that blonde haired bitch!"

With a battle cry, the G Corporation army charged forward, cutting through the Tekken Force's lines. They suffered considerable losses at close range, but they were now right on top of the Tekken Force, forcing the overrun soldiers to retreat as they were blasted at point blank. As the Tekken soldiers fell back, the few functioning JACKs pursued them and took down as many of the runners as they could.

"AND STAY OUT!" the commanding officer yelled. The soldiers began to cheer loudly and fire their guns in the air.

 _Captain, this is 3rd battalion. Captain, come in!_

The captain stopped his cheering and picked up his radio.

"Go ahead."

 _The Tekken Force has been annihilated in the Northwest sectors! They're falling back toward a small military outpost serving as their forward base of operations! Permission to pursue and take the fight to them?_

"Roger that. We'll send reinforcements once we're done here!" the captain yelled.

"Sounds like they won" Lars said. The two of them made it all the way to the rooftop and were resting.

"Hey, are you alright?" he said, cupping her cheek. "You were amazing, you know." She looked at Lars with a smile as she touched his hand.

"I can't wait until we're away from this."

Meanwhile, Raven's fight with JACK 6 had commenced. The hulking robot charged toward Raven and yelled like a madman, swinging it's arm like a propeller before unleashing a devastating power punch. Raven blocked the punch with both hands but it sent him sliding all the way into the steel elevator door, which dented upon his impact. Raven fell to his knees after hitting the door with such force. JACK 6 took this opportunity to close in and, raising his arms above his head, brought them down with an overhead swing like a sledgehammer.

 _Move, Raven. MOVE!_

Raven rolled out of the way as the robot's arms destroyed the ground next to him. Raven clamped his legs around JACK 6's shin and, using all of his might, managed to sweep the robot off it's feet. JACK 6 hit the ground face first and caused a tremor.

 _This is my chance!_

Raven sprung to his feet and leaped high in the air. Using his foot to propel himself from the nearby wall, he came down with thunderous force and, with a mid air cartwheel, brought his heel down on the robot's head. JACK 6 cried out, a sign that the attack was successful. The robot used it's massive hands to push it's body upward, then fired it's rocket boosters to achieve maximum distance from Raven. It then stood back up and looked at the ninja with a murderous glare.

"Come and get it, tin man." Raven said, making the "come" gesture. JACK 6 gave it's trademark obnoxious yell and rushed forward. As it closed in on Raven, JACK started to throw quick left handed jabs. They came out surprisingly fast and the robot didn't seem to get tired at all. Raven swayed back and forth, evading the swift punches.

 _Damn, he punches faster than shooting a handgun!_

But the small jabs were only a distraction to set up a powerful right punch. Raven realized this a second too late when, after swaying from one last jab, JACK 6's right hand came out of nowhere with a power punch.

"Shit!" Raven yelled. He twisted his body just enough that the rock shattering punch missed his sternum, but instead struck him on the shoulder, knocking him backwards into the steel door a second time. This time the doors broke off and impacted inside the elevator with the wounded ninja. Raven was hurt badly, but not from the steel door; it was his now dislocated shoulder.

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" he yelled, clutching his shoulder. He was having enough trouble when all of his limbs worked! What the hell was he supposed to do with one arm?

Suddenly, Raven got an idea. It was risky as hell, but it was his only hope.

"That all you got, you fucking scrap heap! That was pretty good, if you want to make a living hammering nails!"

The robot didn't take too kindly to the insult, and ran toward Raven with it's arm spinning like a propeller. Raven fell to his knees, coaxing the robot to strike downward instead of mid or high. And it did just that.

 _Perfect!_

JACK 6 threw a downward punch directly at Raven's head. Raven smiled and moved at the last minute, allowing the fist to strike his shoulder. With a loud POP! his shoulder was knocked back into place.

"Now we're in business!" Raven yelled. He leaped forward and grabbed JACK 6's head with both hands, vaulting himself upward and over. As he vaulted over JACK 6's body, he didn't let go of JACK 6's head and allowed himself to fall. As Raven hit the ground, his weight pulling against JACK's head caused the robot to fall backwards. Now on the ground in a north-south position, Raven brought his arms around the robot's neck and put him in a powerful chokehold.

JACK 6 screamed and yelled incoherently, flailing it's arms and legs wildly. Sweat poured from Raven's head as he pulled harder than he ever pulled before. Electricity started to spew from the captive robots neck as it's red eyes started to flicker.

 _Almost there. Almost!_

Preparing for one last push, Raven gave a yell and put every last ounce of muscle into one final squeeze, crushing the robot's neck inward with a metal crunch. The JACK spasmed and shook as electricity flooded through it's body before finally shutting down. Raven rolled away from the robot and got back to his feet. JACK 6's eyes were now black as smoke rose from it's destroyed wires.

"Whew... entrance secure." Raven said with a loud sigh before sitting down on the ground.

 **I know Raven has blades and can slice stuff up, but come on, this is Tekken! Hand to hand, baby! Next time is Raven and Anna, I promise.**


	11. Chapter 11: Removal

Raven sat on the ground, panting loudly. He was hurting all over and his limbs felt like they were being held down by anvils. But he couldn't stop here: his objective was just on the other side of the door.

"Come on Raven, don't be such a pussy." Raven said to himself with a small laugh. He leaped to his feet and grabbed the nearby wall, still panting loudly. He allowed himself to rest for a few more minutes. After deciding he was steady on his feet, he stretched his arms and legs to make sure they were fully mobile.

"Everythings in order. This is it... no going back."

Raven kicked the door and rolled through the doorway, looking both ways. Sure enough, sitting on her desk in the middle off the room, was the now supreme commander of the G Corporation: Anna Williams.

"Well, you certainly now how to make an entrance," she said with a mischievous smile. "You must be something else to fight your way up here and past my big, strong robot." She got out of her chair and plopped onto the top of her desk, looking Raven up and down.

"Well you sure didn't make it easy for me," Raven said, crossing his arms. "You talk as if you were expecting company."

"Oh I was, but I sure wasn't expecting a handsome stud like you to come rolling into my office." she said with a giggle. "To whom do I owe this pleasure?"

"My name is of no importance. If you don't mind, I'd like to skip the formalities and get down to business."

"Well, you're no fun," Anna said with a pout. "Fine, tell me why you felt the need to wreck my lovely robot and kick my door down. And for your sake... you better have a good answer."

"I'm here to stop this war that you and your psychotic sister have restarted." Raven said sternly. "Now, there's two ways we can go about that. You're going to find one a lot more favorable than the other."

Anna's smile turned to a scowl.

"EXCUSE me? It sounds like you're threatening me, Mr. Macho Man, and those who threaten me tend to die slowly and painfully."

"Don't you realize what you and you're sister are doing?! You're costing thousands of lives because of your petty squabble!" Raven yelled.

Anna gave a laugh. "Petty? Ha! You don't know what I've been through with that bitch. What right do you have to interfere in our personal affairs?"

"When you started putting other people's lives at risk, that's when you crossed the line. As long as this war rages, you and your sister ARE my business."

Anna scoffed and leaped from her desk, approaching Raven slowly. As she got closer, she began to run her hand along his face.

"You know, you don't seem like a bad guy," she cooed. "But you're playing a very dangerous game by getting in my way."

Raven slapped her hand away. "Baby, I know the game inside and out. You're just a beginner."

Anna stepped back like she had been shoved.

"You...! You... BASTARD! You think you can cross me and LIVE?! You just signed your death warrant!" she screamed. Raven took that as fighting words and quickly got into stance.

Anna furiously stormed toward her desk. With a loud yell, she knocked over her desk with a hard kick. Underneath the desk lay a bazooka.

 _Oh. Shit._

Anna snatched the bazooka and, with a snarl, fired a round directly toward the doorway. The projectile zoomed and hit the wall just next to the doorway, causing a massive explosion.

Anna waited for the smoke to clear, a sadistic smile on her face. But to her surprise, there was no body.

"Mother... show yourself!" she screamed at the ceiling.

"Behind you." a voice said. Anna quickly swung the bazooka around, but Raven caught it with one hand and shoved it upward. He then threw a kick to Anna's chest which knocked her on her butt.

"Anna Williams..." Raven said, tossing the bazooka aside. "You're blinded with hatred and lust for vengeance. You've sacrificed your humanity... your morality... your dignity. I'm giving you one more chance. Order all G Corporation forces to stand down now, or you die here."

"You think you can order ME around!" she spat. "I've got news for you, buddy. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will stop me from tearing that bitch's head off!

She quickly spun around and ripped off her leopard coat. As she spun back around, she released the coat into Raven's face, blinding him. The stunned ninja backed up and quickly removed the coat, but as his vision was restored, the next thing he came in contact with was Anna's stiletto shoe in his stomach. The kick knocked him back into the nearby wall with a crash.

"Agh, damn... it..." Raven fell to his knees with a cough. The shoe missed his ribs thankfully, but it still punctured him and almost certainly drew blood.

"That's too quick for you." Anna said as she removed her stiletto shoes and tossed them aside. She was now in nothing but her short black dress and stockings. "I'm going to break every bone in your body, THEN you can beg me to kill you quickly!"

Ignoring the searing pain, Raven quickly shot to his feet. Leaping on the wall behind him, he sprung forward with both feet and tackled Anna to the ground, but she vaulted him off of her with no trouble. With a somersault, Raven landed behind the tipped over desk. He used his foot to fling her chair into the air and, with a kick, sent the chair flying toward her. She ducked underneath the chair, giving Raven his opening. He teleported into the air and came down on her head with his fist, knocking her face into the carpet.

She got up slowly, spitting out blood. As the blood flew from her mouth, a tiny white object came out with it. It was a tooth.

"You... you knocked out my..." Anna stammered. She then turned to Raven and gave him the most rage filled look there ever was.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she screamed as she ran toward him and threw three open handed knifehand strikes into his abdomen where the shoe had pierced. She finished the combo with a spinning kick to his throat, which knocked him high into the ceiling. Raven's cry came out as a wheeze as he plummeted back down onto the floor. Taking advantage of his floored state, Anna did a small somersault forward, just low enough to the ground that she would fall on top of the downed ninja. Her full weight crashing down on his back caused pain to shoot through his fractured ribs, making Raven cry out in pain. She rolled off of him and got back to her feet, laughing loudly as he curled into a fetal position and coughed loudly.

"Does it hurt, little man? Sorry, when I'm having fun I'm always a little rough!" She walked back over to the corner and slipped on her stilettos.

"But alas, I've had enough fun today. I'm going to drive my shoe into your throat, and when you're done choking to death I'll see what I can't do about this AWFUL blemish you've given me." As she looked at Raven and laughed, the radio on her desk began to speak.

 _"Ms. Williams! Ms. Williams, please respond!"_

She walked over to her tipped over desk and picked her radio up off the ground.

"Yeeeees?" she said in a cheery voice.

 _"We're pressing on to the Mishima Zaibatsu's forward base of operations, but it looks like they've ordered a retreat! Permission to pursue?"_

"Well what do you think?!" Anna yelled. "Follow them all the way to the headquarters if you have to! Kill them all, but make sure you bring ME that bitch sister of mine! If anyone kills her, I'll personally kill all of you!"

 _"Understood, ma'am."_ and with a click, the radio fell silent. Anna turned to Raven, still laying on the ground in pain and coughing.

"Hear that? The Tekken Force is on the receiving end now. My glorious moment of triumph is soon to come, and you won't be there to witness it. A shame really... you DO look good."

She laughed as the turned around and threw her radio back behind the desk. But as she turned back around, Raven's body was gone!

"What the..." Anna said, backing into the corner. "You... you can't hide from me!"

"I don't need to." Raven said as he landed right in front of her, causing her to gasp loudly. Raven straightened his hand and delivered an open handed spear strike into her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her instantly. As Anna gave a whimper, Raven shifted his body weight leftward and propelled his right leg with the speed of a bullet into a devastating roundhouse that struck her in the cheek, breaking her jaw and sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Never... turn your... back on your opponent. They... might just... surprise you." Raven said between pants.

As Raven panted loudly and clutched his stomach, Anna forced her battered body back up. She could barely stay on her feet as she looked at Raven with a look of hatred and pure murderous desire.

"Any last words?" Raven said, pulling out his blades. But Anna either couldn't or wouldn't speak. She continued to stare at him with murderous intent. Suddenly, tears started to form in her eyes, to Raven's surprise.

 _She's... crying?_

Anna screamed with everything she had left in her lungs as she pulled a dagger from her thigh and charged at Raven. With a flash, Raven appeared behind her, his blades extended. Anna gave a shocked expression, then fell to her knees. As Raven sheathed his blades, blood began to spurt from both sides of her neck as she collapsed onto the ground, her face still frozen with shock.

"Target eliminated." Raven said with a sigh. He walked over to the bleeding girl and stared at her with an intense expression.

"This could have been avoided, you know." he said coldly. "I don't know what you two have been through or what happened in your family, but tell me... was it worth plunging this country back into war? How could you be so selfish?"

Her only response was extending her middle finger as she closed her eyes and drew her last breath.

"I never thought two sisters could hate each other like this. One day, I hope to understand what drove you to this point. But in the meantime..." Raven turned around and headed for the elevator that he hoped still worked.

"You can rest easy knowing one thing: your sister will be joining you real soon."

 **Go ahead and say it: HOW COULD YOU?!** **Well, don't say I didn't warn you. Unfortunately, the killing may not stop here. Will the G Corporation stand down? More importantly, will the Mishima Zaibatsu continue to be hostile even if they surrender? Will Nina force Raven to use lethal force? Find out next time, when our heroes head for the Mishima Headquarters!**


	12. Chapter 12: Extraction

**As of this chapter, Peace Keeper is now my longest fanfic ever. Woot! And it's only half over! By the time this fic ends, It will be called THE Raven Fic! I still don't own Tekken or its characters, by the way. Enjoy this teeny break from the action.**

Raven groaned loudly as he tried to walk towards the elevator. Whatever pain he was feeling after the JACK 6 fight was five times as bad now. After finally dragging his wounded body to the elevator, he tried to press the button to the rooftop. There was no response.

"Shit, out of order..." Raven said with a hiss. Luckily, he had a backup plan. His earpiece could also make calls, and he knew Lars didn't go anywhere without his trusty phone.

"Good thing I got his number after our assault on Azazel's Temple," Raven said with a sigh of relief as he input the numbers into his device.

Lars and Alisa were still resting on the rooftop, waiting for Raven to rendezvous with them. Lars was getting worried, especially with all the noise he had heard inside.

"You think he's in trouble?" he asked Alisa.

"Raven is quite a capable fighter, but if Anna had exceptional security planted throughout the headquarters, he may have been weakened upon arrival at her office. If that were the case, the probability that he was defeated in battle is 64.73%." the robot said with a not so cheery expression.

"I don't like those odds..." Lars said with a frown. Suddenly, he heard his City After Dark ringtone playing.

"What the... someone's calling me?"

He quickly whipped out the phone and saw the caller ID: it was Raven.

"Well at least he's not dead," Lars said with a grin, making Alisa giggle.

"Lars here. What's up?"

"I'm stuck here in Anna's office and I'm not in the best shape," Raven said, still coughing a little. "I need an emergency airlift to the rooftop."

"Alisa will take care of it. We've secured Kazuya's personal chopper. You're all that's left. You take care of Anna?"

"I slashed the bitch's neck open, but she got me good. I'm bleeding pretty well from my abdomen and from a few cuts on my arms and legs. It would be great if you... SHIT!"

Raven could hear footsteps approaching the office.

"Uhh, I hate to rush you, but some god damn G Corp soldiers somehow made their way up here! Hurry!"

"Roger that! Alisa's on the way!" Lars said and closed his phone. "Alisa, please hurry!" he yelled to her. She nodded and immediately took off.

Raven turned and faced the doorway, getting into stance. He couldn't do much in his state, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get done in by a bunch of grunts. The footsteps got louder and louder until finally a squadron of soldiers flooded the doorway, aiming their guns at Raven's head and chest.

"Well" Raven said with a smile. "You must have climbed a hell of a lotta stairs to get here. Did you try taking the elevator?" he said sarcastically.

"Where is Ms. Williams?!" the lead soldier cried.

"See for yourself." Raven motioned toward the ground. The soldiers cried out in shock at the sight of their leader soaked in blood.

"You... you... BASTARD! Who are you working for?!" As the lead soldier yelled, all the guns cocked at once.

"Who do you think?" Raven said with a smug grin. "She paid a pretty penny. It's kind of ironic, really. Here I thought SHE was the assassin for hire."

"You Mishima dog!" the soldier bellowed.

Before the soldiers could squeeze of a shot, Alisa burst through the window of the office and snatched Raven.

"Wha... what the fu-?" the soldier all backed up in amazement. Alisa gave a wink and flew out of the building, Raven in her arms.

"Your timing couldn't have been better!" Raven yelled.

"Actually, my reaction time could have been quicker by 1.5 seconds. I apologize." she said with a smile.

As they landed on the rooftop, Lars had already fired up the chopper.

"Come on, let's go!" He yelled to them, motioning.

"Can you walk, Mr. Raven?" Alisa asked, holding him up.

"Yeah, don't worry about me!" Raven replied, giving an okay signal. They quickly leaped in the chopper as it descended off the helipad and took of into the sky above the city. After a moment to get their bearings, Raven spoke.

"I convinced the G Corp soldiers that I was hired by the Mishima Zaibatsu. They're too ignorant to realize how personal Nina and Anna's rivalry was, so they bought it pretty easily."

"You do realize that's going to make the G Corporation even angrier, right?" Lars asked.

"Look, I didn't want to do it, but the G Corp is our ticket into the Zaibatsu headquarters. Right about now, the commanding officer is on the radio telling everybody what I just said. That's gonna make their retaliation that much harder. They'll tear apart the Zaibatsu to get revenge."

"So let me get this straight. You intentionally pissed of the G Corporation army so they'll fight HARDER against the Tekken Force?"

"I pissed them off so they'll create an opening for us to get inside. You've been there just as well as I have. You know there's only one way inside and up to the top. No openings, no shortcuts, no windows to break through. The elevator is the ONLY way. But to stop Nina, we have to GET there, first. Gonna be kind of hard if we're shot full of holes the minute we're near the compound."

"It's an unfortunate but effective diversionary tactic." Alisa chimed in. "While the two armies are locked in combat, the three of us will slip inside and get to the Grand Elevator. There is a 98% chance Nina Williams will be waiting at the top."

"Alright, I understand." Lars said, rubbing his forehead. "One more question, though: say we get there, and Nina already knows of Anna's death. What if the Tekken Force surrenders, but the G Corp won't listen to reason?

"I... haven't made it that far yet." Raven said with a sigh. "Once I've taken care of Nina either physically or diplomatically, we're to pull out immediately until I contact HQ for further details. It isn't pretty, but orders are orders."

"Those are your orders, not mine. I'm here to STOP the fighting."

"You have to trust me." Raven said sternly. The two of them stared at each other for a full minute before Lars turned his head.

"...Fine. But you better have a trick up your sleeve to put an end this shit."

And with that, the trio was silent as they flew towards their next destination.

 **The battle rages on as our heroes race toward the Mishima HQ. Next chapter: storming the damn fortress for the second time! For the sake of this fanfic, let's assume that it's not as easy as breaking through a window or landing on the roof. Cut me some slack -_-**


	13. Chapter 13: Covert Invasion

**It would be great if I could finish the Civil War Arc before my finals, but there's no way that's going to happen. So, at the very least, I can go ahead and attempt to get the climax out of the way. That being said, I should warn you: this chapter will blow your minds from it's awesomeness. It's thrice (not twice, THRICE) as long as all my other chapters and contains non stop action and epic male bonding. Prepare your minds and read on!**

It was nearing nightfall now as Raven, Lars, and Alisa soared towards the objective. After a one hour flight, the noise had started up once again. The three could hear rapid gunfire and explosions, and if one listened close enough... screams.

"We're getting close." Lars informed the two as they flew through the torn apart city which was the home of the Mishima Zaibatsu. The explosions were getting really loud and the G Corporation could be seen below, charging with tanks and JACK 5 units. Helicopters also started to flood the sky. Thankfully, the G Corporation helicopter they were flying in was the perfect disguise.

Suddenly, a voice started to speak on the radio.

 _Remember what we're here for! Our leader is dead, and it was Mishima who pulled the trigger! Don't stop for anything! Tear apart the Mishima Zaibatsu piece by piece until our vengeance is sated! Leave no one's blood unspilled, leave no one's life spared! Nina Williams and the Tekken Force will fall to our military strength on this night! FOR THE G CORPORATION!_

Just as the message ended, a barrage of rockets were released from the helicopters upon the Tekken Force ground units. The ground looked nothing short of an inferno as the rockets ripped apart tanks left and right. The Tekken Force returned fire with surface to air missiles, as the surrounding helicopters started to drop one by one in a fiery explosion.

"Uhh... maybe we should get out of this airspace!" Raven yelled.

"Working on it!" Lars replied, maneuvering through the swarm of projectiles. "Alisa, go outside and intercept any missiles that get a bead on us!"

"Roger!" Alisa yelled and activated her chainsaws. She flew out of the helicopter and raised her arms high, prepared to slice any missiles that came near. Sure enough, one had locked on to them and was heading this way at high speed.

"Missile detected! Intercepting!" Alisa yelled as she flew toward the missile and swung her arms in an X shape. The missile was sliced to pieces and fell without even detonating.

"Amazing... she's that accurate?" Raven said in awe.

"That's my girl." Lars said, giving a thumbs up from the cockpit. Alisa smiled and returned the favor.

On the ground, the battle had gotten intense. Tekken Force armored vehicles armed with surface to surface ballistic missiles had rolled to the front and were pelting the G Corporation with a hailstorm of fire. Most of the advancing soldiers were blown to pieces, but a few JACKs made it through the barrage and landed on the trucks. They then started ripping the launchers from the trucks and throwing the missiles with enough velocity to detonate, blowing up the advancing Tekken Force army at close range. This provided the G Corp soldiers with enough of an opening to charge in and regain ground.

"Shit, they're getting closer! All forces, pull back towards the fortress!" a Tekken Force officer ordered. The army began a full retreat as they pulled back in an attempt to hold onto what they had left.

Raven, Lars, and Alisa were advancing quickly thanks to Alisa's air cover, and the headquarters was finally in sight. It was just as big and intimidating as it was last time: the walls were made of reinforced steel and the rooftops were littered with huge 50 caliber machine guns.

"Home, sweet home..." Lars said, rolling his eyes. Suddenly, a missile zoomed past the helicopter, causing the missile warning alarm to start blaring.

"Jesus F***!" Lars said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Alisa, how's it going out there!"

Outside, she seemed to be having trouble swatting all of the incoming missiles.

"It's no good... there's... too many!" she yelled as she continued to slice the missiles carefully. Suddenly, one came right at her.

"AH!" she screamed as she quickly slashed. She didn't have enough time to accurately cut the missile so it wouldn't detonate.

"ALISAAAA!" Lars screamed as the resulting explosion knocked her out of the sky. Lars immediately turned around and started to descend.

"No, Lars! Remember the mission!" Raven yelled, grabbing the stick.

"YOUR mission, not mine!" Lars yelled as he shoved Raven away. "My mission is to never lose her again!"

As they fought, a missile struck the tail, destroying it completely. The helicopter spun out of control as it fell towards the earth.

"We're going doooooown!" Raven yelled. The chopper was beeping like crazy. The whole world was spinning. Was this how it was going to end?

"NO!" Raven yelled as he grabbed Lars and leaped from the helicopter. He was able to land on his feet, but with Lars's extra weight and the condition his body was in, it wasn't a pleasant landing. The moment his feet touched the ground, he fell over instantly.

"Raven!" Lars yelled. He got up to check on him, but he then turned and ran the opposite direction.

"ALISA!"

The robot was on the ground not too far from their impact point. Lars ran to her and scooped her up in his arms.

"Please PLEASE tell me you're okay!"

Alisa looked up with a smile.

"Of course I am. It takes more than a close range detonation to separate me from you."

Lars leaned over and kissed her deeply. It felt like an eternity before he pulled his lips from hers and spoke.

"We're leaving this country, first chance we get. Understood?" Lars said sternly. Alisa smiled at him, still blushing madly.

"Yes, but... we can't leave him." Alisa looked over at Raven, who was still on the ground writhing in pain.

"...I know. Raven's my friend and I owe him a lot, so I'm going to help him finish this. But YOU have to get to a safe place. Please, Alisa."

Alisa looked at him with a worried expression. "But... you need my help, don't you?"

"What I need... is to never lose you again. I can't bear the thought of it, okay? Please, just get to a safe place and wait for me! I swear I'll find you!"

Alisa closed her eyes as she thought deeply. She then leaned in and gave Lars a peck on the cheek.

"Very well. But you must come back to me alive. BOTH of you."

Lars smiled as he set her down. She flew off, giving Lars one more wave goodbye. Lars quickly turned to the injured Raven and ran towards him.

"Raven! Raven, talk to me!" he yelled.

"Is... is she... okay?" Raven managed to utter.

"She's fine! What do you need? Tell me!"

"I really... really... just need some water." Raven said with a small laugh.

"I can get that for you, buddy." Lars said with a chuckle. He pulled out his canteen and pressed it to Raven's mouth. Raven gave a nod and Lars tilted it upward, allowing Raven to drink to his fill. Raven gave a hand signal and Lars pulled the canteen away.

"Ahhhh!" Raven sighed loudly as he rolled on his back and panted. Lars laid down right beside him and panted loudly himself.

"I know I asked this before... but why do we throw ourselves into this shit?" Lars said, laughing.

"We're just the good guys. It's what we do." Raven said, still panting. He managed to utter a small laugh.

"When this is over... we need to take the longest f***ing vacation."

"That, my friend... I can guaran-damn-tee you." Raven said with a small grin.

After about 30 more seconds of relaxation, the two finally leaped to their feet.

"What do you say we get a move on?" Raven asked.

"Lead the way." Lars said with a smile.

The battle had shifted to the front doorstep of the Mishima Zaibatsu compound. The barricades were reinforced with Gatling guns and mortars, but the G Corp soldiers were firing RPGs and destroying the emplacements one by one. The helicopters had also reached the fortress and were blasting it with unguided rockets. The rockets weren't doing much damage to the fortress itself, but the guns on the rooftops were being blown away.

"Anti air fire suppressed! Send in the landing craft!" the flight commander yelled. The larger choppers began to move towards the front of the battlefield and started dropping airborne tanks right at the front of the compound. The tanks began immediately blowing away all hostile forces nearby.

"Dammit!" a Tekken Force officer yelled. He quickly grabbed a nearby radio. "Airbase One, calling Airbase One! What's your status?! We need air support over here NOW!"

 _"We're under heavy attack by the G Corporation! We can't afford to launch any fighters at this time! You guys are on your own!"_

"That's f***ing brilliant." the Tekken Force officer said, throwing the radio down and stepping on it. "I liked it better when THEIR home was under attack..."

The JACKs had also reached the front and were tearing apart whatever barricades were made in front of the entrance to the fortress. A few of them shut down from taking significant fire, but the rest were fully operational and were tearing the defenses apart.

"Aw, screw this! FALL BACK!" the Tekken Force officer yelled. The armies began to retreat inside the HQ as the advancing G Corp soldiers and JACKS stormed the place.

"Now's our chance..." Raven said to Lars.

"You got it. But... might I suggest we try a different approach? At least until we're inside?" Lars asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Okay... what do you have in mind?" Lars pointed downward at a couple of G Corporation corpses.

"Damn, these are uncomfortable!" Raven said with a groan as the two of them stormed the head quarters dressed as G Corp grunts.

"It's just until we get to the Grand Elevator." Lars reassured him. The two of them made their way through the building as soldiers fired frantically and were killed all around them.

"OH SHIT! RAVEN, IN FRONT OF US!" Lars yelled. The two of them skidded to a stop as a squadron of Tekken Force soldiers fired at them. Luckily, a JACK flew out in front of them, the bullets bouncing off of him like they were pebbles. The JACK charged forward and plowed through the Tekken Force soldiers.

"The enemy of my enemy..." Lars muttered as the two of them made their way through the headquarters. As they moved deeper into the compound, the G Corporation bodies were really starting to pile up; they had the upper hand, but they charged in foolishly and were being cut down by the base's defense network.

"We're gonna have to break through our own way." Raven said, stripping off the uniform. "This is it. You ready?"

Lars removed his uniform as well. "I'm ready."

The two of them darted past the G Corp and Tekken Force soldiers that were now in close range combat. Luckily, the two were ignored in the midst of all the confusion and chaos. But as they got closer to the 1st floor elevator, they started to get the attention of the Tekken Force.

"Who the hell are they? Stop em!" a soldier yelled and they began shooting. Raven whizzed through the bullets with lightning speed and started slashing their guns in half with his blades. As Raven disarmed them, Lars rushed in for the kill. He threw a punch that broke one's helmet and sent him flying. He got another with a spinning kick to the stomach. A Tekken soldier threw a roundhouse kick, which Lars blocked and then countered with a lightning charged fist to his groin. Lars then grabbed the soldier's leg that he had blocked and flipped him onto his face like flipping a table.

Raven threw a spinning backfist into the face of a soldier behind him, the handle of his blade smashing the helmet and breaking his nose. He did a spinning jump kick and took another out. As one approached from the side and swung, Raven sidestepped and threw an elbow to the back of his neck, knocking him on his face.

The two ran onward as whatever soldiers were still alive laid there and groaned in pain. As they neared a corridor, Raven quickly grabbed Lars to prevent him from going any further.

"Proximity mines" he whispered. He picked up a fallen gun and threw it into the hallway. All of the mines beeped rapidly and detonated, engulfing the hallway in flames.

"Let's go!" he yelled. The two of them headed for the elevator; finally it was in sight! But a pair of miniguns on the ceiling began to spray bullets all around them. Raven quickly threw his shurikens and took out the defenses.

"Alright. Elevator one, let's go."

The two of them got inside and checked the buttons.

"We can only go as high as the 50th floor!" Lars yelled. From there on should be the Grand Elevator that leads to the Mishima Throne Room. Let's hurry before they get wise and shut down the elevator!"

Raven quickly pushed the button to the 50th floor. It felt like an eternity before the ding sounded and the doors flew open. There, waiting for them, was a bunch of soldiers armed to the teeth.

Raven and Lars looked at each other, then sprinted forward and unleashed their onslaught. Raven slashed to kill, and Lars made sure his punches broke bones. The fighting lasted five minutes before the soldiers were all dead or incapacitated. Not a single bullet had hit them.

They made their way to the Grand Elevator, which was guarded by elite soldiers. They weren't armed, but instead relied on their martial arts skills. As Raven and Lars approached, they got into their stances. They were quite diverse in their styles. Raven and Lars looked at each other and then at the soldiers, then got into stance.

The first two soldiers came toward them, throwing a flurry of Tornado Kicks. As they neared Lars and Raven, they effortlessly transitioned from a Tornado Kick into a spinning elbow. As Lars and Raven ducked, the elite soldiers threw low kicks, causing them to stagger. Then, in perfect sync, they unleashed Foot Bazookas and knocked the two of them onto their backs. Finally, the two soldiers split up and approached their respective opponents. Raven and Lars shot to their feet. It's on now!

Elite Soldier 1 threw a lightning fast Mach Punch, which Raven moved his head to the side and avoided. Raven snatched the soldier's arm and gave a sharp twist, breaking it. He then threw a low kick to the side of his leg and went higher, kicking his ribs. The soldier was on his knees now, gasping for air. Raven then lifted his leg above his head and brought his heel down on the crouching soldier's head, shattering his helmet. Raven finally let go of his arm, allowing him to fall over unconscious.

Lars circled his opponent before lunging in and throwing a punch to his stomach. Elite Soldier 2 caught Lars's punch and attempted to Judo flip him over his shoulder. Lars landed on his feet, however, and turned around and kneed him in the gut. As the soldier leaned forward in pain, Lars grabbed his neck and held him up with one hand. Electricity flowed through Lars's hands and into the soldier's body. A loud snap was heard as the soldier's body went limp. Lars let go of him and gave the "come" gesture, awaiting the next.

Elite Soldier 3 lunged toward Raven and brought the sole of his foot to Raven's shin. As Raven fell forward, The soldier drew his head back and threw a debilitating headbutt which dropped Raven to the ground in the opposite direction instantly.

"Agh, shit..." Raven said as the whole world was spinning. Elite Soldier 3 approached Raven and raised his leg high above his head.

"HnnnnNNNNNNNHHHHHHGGGGG!" the soldier yelled as his leg started to glow from the power he was storing. He was about to unleash a Dynamite Heel.

"No... you... DON'T!" Raven yelled as he threw a sweep kick, knocking the soldier off of his one leg. The soldier fell forward like a tree as Raven threw a kick that connected directly with his face. The soldier fell right next to Raven, unmoving.

Elite Soldier 4 was in combat with Lars. He threw a one two punch combo which Lars evaded, but then attempted to finish the combo with a Left Splits Kick. His leg came down and struck Lars's shoulder, making him fall to his knee. The soldier then picked Lars up and lifted him over his back in a fireman's carry. He then performed a Samoan Drop, slamming Lars into the ground and causing pain to shoot through his back.

"AGH!" Lars screamed. As he laid on his back. The soldier lifted his elbow and, slapping it twice, leaped slightly and allowed himself to fall on top of Lars. His extended elbow crashed into Lars's gut and knocked the breath out of him instantly.

The soldier got back up and allowed Lars to rise to his feet. Raven sat on the ground, still dizzy, but wondering if he should or could intervene. Luckily Lars was still in it. He got to is feet and got back into stance. The soldier charged forward and threw a Jaguar Lariat, which Lars timed with a sweep kick. The sweep knocked the soldier onto his back. Lars picked him up by the neck and drove his fist into the soldier's gut. He then drew his hand back and gave a thunderous backhand which knocked him to the ground and put him to sleep.

Lars walked over to Raven, who was still massaging his head.

"You good, bro?" he asked, extending his hand. Raven grabbed it and got back to his feet.

"Never better."

The two of them stared at the big glass elevator.

"Have you been through this thing before?" Lars asked, looking up.

"I have..." Raven said. "But I'm sure your ride was much less pleasant."

"Yeah, well, this one might not be any better."

He turned to Raven and extended his hand.

"Just in case we don't make it, nice working with you."

Raven grabbed his hand and shook it firmly.

"Yeah, well, thanks for making my job easier. Beats coming through here by myself."

Raven pushed the button and the two of them went inside. The minute they stepped inside, they were greeted by an unfriendly face: a giant black behemoth with red, glowy eyes and huge arms. It had at least four legs and it was armed with a missile launcher on one hand and a Gatling gun on the other. As soon as Raven and Lars saw the thing, they tried to run out, but the doors shut behind them. They threw their hands in the air as they cursed their existence.

"NANCY. It's a f***ing NANCY!" Raven said, slapping his head. "Of all the god damned..."

NANCY's eyes began to glow brightly as it clunked forward and extended it's arms.

"Looks like your old friend is back for a rematch." Lars said jokingly.

"All right then, I'll take the f***er down a second time!" Raven shouted, drawing his blades. Lars placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to fight alone this time." he said with a grin. Raven gave a nod of acknowledgement as the two of them prepared to rush the murderous machine.

NANCY pointed one arm and started to fire erratically. Bullets flew all over and covered the elevator in holes as the two ran for their lives. Luckily the elevator was bulletproof and sturdy enough to survive a rocket launcher, otherwise this was going to be a short trip. Raven vanished and reappeared right over NANCY's arm, swinging his blades. But to his surprise, a shield popped out and blocked his attack!

"Dammit, this one has some new tricks!" Raven cursed as he backflipped to safety. Lars closed in and grabbed NANCY's missile hand, vaulting himself upward and throwing a hard kick to NANCY's tiny head. This caused the giant machine to step back, jarred. Lars leaped back to a safe distance. Raven ran forward and leaped onto Lars's back, springing himself forward.

"GraaaAAAAAAAAH!" Raven yelled as he prepared to slice NANCY's head off. The robot anticipated this and swung its powerful arm, knocking Raven into the ground. It then pointed it's Gatling gun right at his head.

"Oh no you don't Lars yelled. He leaped forward and kicked the arm upward, causing it to fire into the rooftop.

"Thanks" Raven said, jumping back to his feet. He pulled out his shuriken and threw at NANCY's head, but the robot only blocked it with the missile arm.

"Damn it, those arms are a nuisance!" Raven spat.

"That's the least of our problems!" Lars yelled, pointing. The robots eye's glowed purple before unleashing a death ray that melted the glass next to their feet.

"Shit! Ruun!" Lars yelled as they split in different directions.

Suddenly, Raven got an idea.

"I know how to get those arms out of commission! Follow me!"

The two of them ran towards NANCY as it started firing missiles furiously.

"Aw, f*** this!" Lars yelled, dodging the explosions and continuing to walk forward.

"Come on, you piece of shit. Melt us again!" Raven yelled at the robot. The robot's eyes glowed: it was about to fire again.

"Wait for it."

"What?!"

"Wait for it..."

"You're kidding!"

"Wait for it..."

"Can we wait and move at the same time?"

"NOW!"

The two of them moved just in time to dodge the lasers as they made a big hole where they were standing.

"Now get under it's fists! Make her swing!" Raven shouted. Lars nodded and the two of them got in perfect range of an overhead swing. The pissed off robot raised it's hands and did just what they wanted.

"MOVE, NOW!" Raven shouted as the two of them jumped out of the way and avoided the crushing might of NANCY's arms. NANCY tried to raise it's arms, but they were stuck! The robot looked down; it was the holes where it had melted the glass!

"Yeeah! Now it's all you! Finish it!" Lars yelled. Raven gave a nod and leaped high in the air. He came down, blades extended, and sliced clean through NANCY's head. The robot shook and electricity sparked from it before it finally shut down with a whir.

The two exhausted fighters sat on the ground, panting wildly.

"That was pure hell" Lars said between pants.

"Eh, I've fought worse." Raven said, looking at Lars with a grin. Lars scoffed and punched Raven's shoulder.

NOW APPROACHING MISHIMA THRONE ROOM. an automated voice said. The two looked at each other.

"Well partner, looks like the end of the line." Lars said, helping Raven to his feet. Raven's expression suddenly grew serious.

"You should stay here. From here on, this is my mission." he said sternly.

"What? Like hell I will!" Lars protested. "We fought through hell to get to this point, and we did it together! This isn't just your mission, Raven!" Lars looked down at his feet.

"I know what I said earlier. But I was just worried about Alisa. She's fine now, and she's waiting on the both of us. So come on, let's end this f***ing war together! It's what I stuck around this crapshack country for anyway! Let's just do it, so I can go kiss my cute robot and we can get the f*** out of here!"

Raven was silent for a moment, but then he tapped Lars's shoulder.

"Roger that."

Just then, a ding sounded. The doors flew open. There, in the big ass room, was Nina Williams sitting on the Mishima throne.

 **WHEW! I had a blast typing this! I had to refer to the movelists for the fight scenes :P**

 **The Elite Tekken Force soldiers were inspired by the Tekken Force soldiers from T4 who knew every. Freaking. Fighting. Style. Those guys were a holes lol.**

 **The climax of the climax is next! Good God I'm tired though. You have no idea what time I did this.**


	14. Chapter 14: Dethroned

**Welp, the finals are over. That means I'm free for 20 whole days, then I get to start all over again. Fun! So, here's the climax of the climax I promised you beautiful people. Enjoy.**

The elevator door swung open, and there, in the giant room, was Nina Williams atop the Mishima Throne. She was wearing her black shirt and pants, but with the addition of a long black leather trenchcoat. She sat with her legs crossed and her head propped on her chin, much like Jin Kazama before her. She was almost a splitting image.

"Nina Williams..." Raven said as the assassin looked at them with a cold stare.

"She'll be tough to beat, especially in our condition." Lars said, still panting.

"It doesn't matter," Raven said. "Even if our limbs were chopped off, there's nothing that can stop us from winning. You hear that, Nina?!" he yelled at her.

"What I hear is the ramblings of a soon to be very dead man." Nina said coldly as she slowly got off of the throne and walked forward. Raven and Lars also walked forward slowly, still breathing heavily.

"Why are you here? And why have you brought that traitor?" she asked, eyeballing Lars with a look of disgust.

"We're here to bring you back to reality." Raven said. "You've sent the Tekken Force to their doom by restarting this stupid war."

"I know what I'm doing." Nina replied with a stoic expression. Her face was almost devoid of life as she spoke.

"Then you know that you're headquarters has been invaded! Don't you care that your troops are dying?!" Lars yelled.

"They're dying for a good cause."

"For what cause?! Anna is dead! You know it by now, don't you? So why do you keep fighting? Why didn't you cease fire?!"

Nina ran her hand through her hair and scoffed. Her next response was quite shocking to the two of them.

"This isn't about Anna, you fools." Raven and Lars's expressions widened.

"...What?" Raven asked, his mouth almost agape. Nina had the same lifeless expression as she turned and looked at the monitors that showed her men fighting on the floors below.

"I said this isn't about my sister. She was merely an added bonus. This is about... him."

"Him? Do you mean Jin Kazama?" Raven asked. Nina nodded.

"But... I don't understand. What does Jin have to do with anything? He's not here anymore!"

"Jin Kazama will always live on!" Nina shouted. "He's more than just a man, you fools! He's a symbol! A god! He's everything that the Zaibatsu stands for! He's the savior of our world!"

"Oh, is that right?" Lars asked. "Is that why you dress like him? Talk like him? Wear that same stupid robotic look that he always had? What has he done to you that made you such a cultist?"

Nina looked down at her feet. "He opened my eyes to the truth. The truth about this world."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

"The world we live in is a desolate wasteland. Violence and fear consume all, and people live their worthless lives in misery. There is only one fate for our world now, and that fate is to be consumed in chaos."

Raven's expression grew more intense. He stepped forward.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know all too well what I'm talking about. Tell me... what have the governments, religions, and people of this world truly accomplished?"

Lars's and Raven's eyes widened at the question.

"I'm fulfilling Jin Kazama's wish. I'm returning everything to the way it should be."

Lars stepped forward now.

"You're out of your f***ing mind! You know just as well as I do that Jin just did this to fight Azazel! He didn't actually want this!"

"You're wrong!" Nina hissed. "At first I believed him, but I knew he wasn't telling me the truth. He was trying to protect me. But now he's gone, and I'm the only one who can follow in his footsteps!"

Nina's expression grew more fierce as she stepped forward. Raven and Lars started to back up slowly.

"Anna was just the beginning! Once the G Corporation is destroyed, I'll pick up where he left off! I'll reshape the world piece by piece! I'll make this the world... that he wanted."

Raven and Lars turned around and huddled.

"Okay, obviously Nina is more batshit insane than we thought." Lars said.

"It's obvious that Jin had some sort of long term effect on her. Looks like she has a heart after all." Raven replied.

"So she's doing all of this... out of some twisted feelings for the guy?"

"It would seem so. Whatever Jin's original intentions were, she's been deluded into thinking she's doing his bidding by continuing the war."

"We can't let this go on, or the Mishima Zaibatsu will burn to the ground! What are we gonna do?"

"We give her one chance. If she refuses, we do what we have to do. Are you prepared to do that?"

"You know I am." Lars said, giving Raven a pat of reassurance. The two of them turned to face Nina, who has taken off her black coat.

"Nina!" Raven said loudly. "I'm giving you one chance. Order your men to cease fire right now..."

"Or we're done here!" Lars finished.

Nina looked at them with a smile starting to form.

"You two are going to stop me? You look like you can barely stand."

"It takes more than pain to stop us!" Lars yelled as he got into stance. "I'll suffer a thousand times worse to put an end to your bullshit!"

"Tell me... why can't you just accept the inevitability of it all? Our world is going to die. Azazel was only the first step. He only pushed us closer towards what's soon to come. So why? Why do you persist?"

"Because I believe in this world." Raven said, getting into stance. "I believe that there's more to life than wars and killing. People deserve to live a full life, find love, scrape out an honest living, grow old and die with their family around them! The world is a beautiful place when you look past the surface. I won't let an anarchist nutjob like you destroy it!"

Nina suddenly pulled out a dagger and threw it with utmost precision. Her hand movement was so fast, Raven couldn't see it in his tired condition. The dagger flew right at his heart before he had a chance to react.

"Shit, watch it!" Lars yelled, pushing Raven out of the way. The dagger struck his side and brought him to the ground.

"Lars!" Raven yelled. Distracted by Lars's sacrifice, he didn't notice Nina close in and unleash a Blonde Bomb into his stomach. Raven winced in pain and tumbled to the ground beside Lars.

"Nina walked up to then, the same sly smile on her face."

"I will not be deterred. I will fulfill my purpose and return this world to what it should be. You two will be the sacrifice that will see that dream become reality!"

"You're... out of your... goddamn mind..." Raven said between coughs. Nina only scoffed and looked at him with indifference.

"That is of no concern to you."

Nina prepared to step on Raven with her heel but Raven rolled backwards and leaped to his feet. Raven then rushed forward with a flying knee, but Nina blocked it and threw him to the ground. Nina then somersaulted forward with the intent on crashing into Raven with her body weight. But Raven vanished just as Nina hit the floor. Nina cried out in pain as her back hit the ground hard with a loud thud.

Raven appeared from above and brought his foot crashing into Nina's stomach. She let out a wheeze at the thunderous impact. Raven leaped off of her and back to Lars, where he stopped to catch his breath. He was so tired he felt like he could drink two gallons of water and sleep for three days.

"Lars... are you... alright?" Raven said between pants.

"Yeah... just don't pull the knife out!" Lars said, wincing from the pain. Lars looked behind Raven.

"Hey man, you're on." he said to his partner.

Raven got back up and turned to face Nina. She was still hunched over, but she was back to her feet. She looked up and gave Raven a murderous look.

"Hmph. That's the look you're sister gave me. It amazes me how much alike you two are." Raven taunted.

Nina growled and ran forward. She unleashed a four hit knifehand combo, which Raven managed to block. After the fourth strike, Nina did a spinning kick to Raven's head which he swayed to avoid, but as she turned her body she threw a low kick to Raven's calf which staggered him. Taking advantage of his opening, she leaped onto his head and brought him to the ground. She clamped his neck with her legs, looking to break it.

Raven was in intense pain and close to losing consciousness, but he kept his cool and spread his free hands apart then brought them together against Nina's ears, causing an uncomfortable and deafening sensation. Nina grabbed her head and fell off of Raven's chest. She rolled away from Raven and got back to her feet. She had a wincing look on her face, indicating that her ears were still ringing.

The two fighters closed distance and Nina was the first to attack with a double slap across the face, jarring Raven and leaving him unprepared for a Bad Habit which brought him to the ground immediately.

"Oh, shit. Anything but that..." Lars muttered, cringing at the kick Nina had just delivered.

Pain was flowing through every orifice of Raven's body after that kick to his testicles. He was close to tears, but he would die before he let anyone see him cry. Nina was running towards him, about to trample over him with her high heeled shoes. Raven closed his eyes tight and put all of his energy into a kick that caught her in the stomach just as she got close enough. The kick didn't hurt, but it gave Raven enough time to roll backwards and fly forward with a cross chop.

Nina was knocked to the ground and Raven seized the opportunity to get on top of her. Not only would it render her immobile; it also gave the pain a chance to wear off.

Raven brought his fists down on Nina's face, but she had her hands up and the punches didn't do much damage. Nina used her strength to roll off of Raven and grab one of his arms, then she threw her legs around it and pulled with her hands, forcing Raven into a painful straight armbar.

Raven stifled a yell; he wouldn't give her the pleasure of hearing his pain. He closed his eyes and concentrated; he was in intense pain and his arm would snap at any moment. He had to free himself, or something! His eyes opened, he knew what he had to do. It was a dirty move, but he had to do anything to survive.

Using his free hand, he drew his blade and plunged it into her kneecap. Nina immediately felt the pain shoot through her and she let go of Raven with a loud scream. She rolled backwards and pulled the blade out, blood spurting from her open wound.

"You SON OF A BITCH!" she yelled between her wince. "Dirty BASTARD!"

"You know how the saying goes." Raven said, getting back to his feet. "Blame yourself for starting this war back."

She stood back up, but was very shaky. Raven couldn't believe his eyes. She wouldn't quit!

"You won't... stop me." she managed to say, limping towards him.

"You've already lost. Surrender, and die with dignity."

"NEVER!" she screamed. She suddenly pulled out a pistol and fired twice, much to Raven's surprise. He was only fast enough to avoid getting shot in the heart, but the two bullets punctured his right shoulder. He was in searing pain, but he reacted immediately. He fell to the ground with a roll and immediately pulled out his shuriken and threw it, not giving Nina a second to breathe.

"AH!" Nina yelped as the shuriken knocked the gun out of her hand. Raven shot back to his feet and raced forward. Even with two holes in him and blood seeping, he couldn't quit. The adrenaline took him: he felt like more than a man. His body began to move faster and faster. The pain was almost nonexistent as he raced forward with the speed of a bullet. This was it: it ends here!

He raced towards Nina and threw a palm into her stomach. As she slouched over with a wheeze, Raven spun around and smacked her in the face with a backhanded chop. His body felt like water as he followed up on his combo by leaping high into the air and bringing his foot down onto Nina's ankle with pinpoint accuracy, making her fall forward like a tree. Raven was crouched and in perfect range of the falling woman's chest. He put his hand to his wrist and, unleashing all the might left within him, drove his elbow into her chest, breaking her sternum instantly.

Nina let out a low wheeze as she fell to the ground, utterly devastated by Raven's four hit combo.

Raven let out a loud groan; the adrenaline stopped and the pain came rushing back through his body. He struggled to stay on his feet as he limped towards Nina, who was coughing and gurgling on her own blood. Raven walked over to the assassin and kicked her over on her side, allowing the blood to flow freely from her mouth. She continued to cough and spit as Raven picked up his bloody blade from the floor.

"Any last words?" Raven asked her as he walked forward and extended his bladed hand. Nina rolled back over and looked at him, blood still pouring from her.

"Go to hell." she spat. Raven raised his good hand and plunged the blade into her chest. She let out a loud gasp and her body arched before she went limp, her eyes rolling in the back of her head.

"Target... eliminated." Raven said with a sigh. He pulled out the blade and cleaned it off on her shirt before sheathing it. He then went and picked up his shuriken. After making sure he had everything, he ran over to check on Lars. Lars was unconscious from the pain and blood loss.

 **It's a shame pretty much everybody stopped reading this after the first chapter. I admit the first chapter was awful, but now they've missed the chance to see how philosophical and enlightening I can be in these later chapters. Plus, you gotta admit these chapters are full of kickass! Come back, 60+ viewers! To my loyal readers that I can count on two hands, be honest... was this action sequence M material? I mean, it's not like I was dismembering anybody, but I feel like I may be taking it too far.**

 **For the record, I personally don't think Nina could ever be deluded into doing anything crazy because she admires Jin. People ship them, but she's way too independent to actually care about others. Sorry Nina was OOC, but I wanted to put a new perspective on such a static character.**

 **Well, until next time. See ya!**


	15. Chapter 15: Beacon of Hope

**NOTICE: Since I've deduced that I lost 90% of my readers because of the mediocre first chapter, I added a little teaspoon of depth to it. It's now close to 800 words as opposed to 450. I also reworded a lot of stuff and toned down the guy losing his arms to just losing his hands. Because losing your hands and dying from blood loss is so much more kid friendly than losing your arms and dying from blood loss xD**

 **Welp. here's another chap for you. Enjoy, my little handful of darlings.**

Raven raced over to Lars, who was fast asleep. He knelt down and checked the wound; it was still bleeding profusely. Raven had to act fast.

"Buddy, it's a good thing you're out of it." Raven said, and with a grunt he pulled the dagger from Lars's side. Acting fast, he pulled off his black scarf and bound the wound, pulling as tight as he could to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.

"It's not perfect, but it'll have to do," Raven said to his unconscious partner. He turned and headed for the giant monitors to ascertain the situation below: the Tekken Force and the G Corporation were on opposite sides of the 1st floor and seemed to be at a standoff. The shots had stopped firing and the soldiers were behind cover, waiting in anticipation of the next shootout.

"Looks like they're at a stalemate. This is my chance!" Raven said as he pressed a big red button and picked up a speaker, preparing to broadcast:

"ATTENTION, ALL G CORPORATION AND TEKKEN FORCE SOLDIERS CURRENTLY IN BATTLE. YOU ARE HEREBY ORDERED TO LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND RETURN TO YOUR HOMES."

"The Tekken Force and G Corp soldiers looked up at the ceiling, confused at the voice that didn't sound anything like Nina Williams.

"Who the hell are you?! a high ranking Tekken Force soldier bellowed.

"ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT I'M HERE TO PUT AN END TO THIS POINTLESS FEUD." Raven replied.

"What have you done with our leader?!"

"NINA WILLIAMS HAS BEEN TERMINATED. YOU HAVE NO MORE REASON TO FIGHT."

The soldiers all let out a gasp. Their leader... dead? That makes both of them!

"You're not getting out of this place alive, then!" the soldier finally responded.

"CAN YOU TELL ME THE REASON WHY YOU FIGHT?" Raven asked. The soldier merely looked up, unable to answer.

"I..."

"THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT. DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU'VE ALL BEEN TRICKED. USED. EXPLOITED. IT STARTED WITH JIN AND KAZUYA, AND NOW THE TWO SISTERS HAVE USED YOU FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH MEANS AS WELL. YOU'RE NOTHING BUT TOOLS TO THEM. WEAPONS!"

"You're lying!" the high ranking soldier yelled.

"THEN I'LL ASK YOU AGAIN. TELL ME WHAT REASON THE TEKKEN FORCE AND THE G CORPORATION HAVE TO KILL EACH OTHER."

The soldier didn't respond.

"YOU'RE ONLY ENEMIES TO THE EXTENT THAT YOUR LEADERS HAVE MADE IT SO. NOW THAT THEY'RE GONE, IT'S TIME TO FACE REALITY AND MAN UP. THINK FOR YOURSELVES FOR A CHANGE INSTEAD OF PLAYING DUTIFUL BOY SCOUTS."

The soldiers on both sides all lowered their weapons and muttered to each other. Perhaps Raven was getting through to them after all.

"But... there's no going back now. Japan is destroyed." a G Corp officer said, hanging his head.

"THERE'S ALWAYS A WAY BACK! THE MADNESS MAY TAKE YOU AND THE CHAOS MAY CONSUME YOU, BUT THERE'S ALWAYS A TINY BEACON OF HOPE THAT PEACE CAN PREVAIL, AND IT CAN. BUT I CAN'T DO IT ALONE."

The soldiers said nothing, but kept staring at the speaker waiting for Raven to continue.

"LOOK, I'M TIRED, OKAY? I'VE BEEN TRAVELING THE WORLD IN A NEVER ENDING BATTLE FOR PEACE, AND IT'S NEARLY KILLED ME! IT'S WHAT I'VE DEVOTED MY LIFE TO, BUT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE MAN TO MAKE PEACE A REALITY. YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR PART SO I CAN DO MINE!"

"But... what can we do? We're just soldiers. Pawns, like you said." the high ranking Tekken soldier replied.

"YOU CAN START BY NOT KILLING EACH OTHER AND TEARING THE CITIES APART! USE YOUR MANPOWER AND RESOURCES TO START ENFORCING THE LAW AND REBUILDING!"

"But what can we do without a leader?" the Tekken soldier asked. The G Corp soldiers nodded in agreement.

"I'LL HANDLE IT, OKAY? I'LL HELP RESTORE ADMINISTRATION TO YOUR COMPANIES, BUT THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU ALL HAVE TO TRUST ME. I KNOW I'M ASKING A LOT, ESPECIALLY FOR A MAN WHO HASN'T SHOWN HIS FACE, BUT I NEED YOU TO JUST DO IT. JUST... TRUST ME."

The headquarters was filled with silence. Both sides had lowered their weapons and were staring at each other. Raven closed his eyes and silently prayed that some idiot wouldn't start unloading bullets. Finally, after a long moment of silence, the Tekken Force soldier looked up at the speaker.

"Alright, what do we do now?"

Raven tilted his head back and let out a long sigh of relief. Praising whatever god was in the sky, he picked back up the speaker.

"LISTEN UP, G CORP. FEEL FREE TO TAKE YOUR WEAPONS WITH YOU, BUT AT THIS TIME YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO YOUR HEADQUARTERS. ANYONE WHO HAS A RADIO, ORDER ALL G CORPORATION FORCES ON THE BATTLEFIELD TO CEASE FIRE. THE SAME GOES FOR THE TEKKEN FORCE. ORDER YOUR MEN TO STAND DOWN."

The high ranking Tekken Force soldier and the G Corp officer both nodded.

"Alright, you heard the man! Weapons safe, and let's move!" the G Corp soldier barked. The G Corp soldiers and JACKs began to fall in and march out of the building in droves. The Tekken Force soldiers breathed a sigh of relief as they sat down and rested. The battle for their base had left them drained.

"Objective complete." Raven said with a smile. He walked over to Lars and scooped him up in a fireman's carry.

"Let's get out of here."

As the Grand Elevator reached the bottom, Raven walked out, carrying Lars on his back. As he walked through the base, the soldiers all saluted him as he passed them. It felt satisfying: not just the respect, but knowing that Raven had finally managed to make a difference. He felt a smile tugging at his lips, but he stifled it and walked onward and out of the base.

Outside, the tanks were rolling away and the choppers flew off into the distance. Waiting outside the base was Alisa, who had made her way to the frontline after the shots had stopped.

"LARS!" she yelled and immediately took off towards Raven.

"Lars! Is he okay!" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"He's alright. Just took a bad lick was all," Raven said, putting down Lars with a grunt. As he set the wounded man down, he immediately fell to his knees. His muscles were aching and his bones felt like they were broken all throughout his body.

"Are you okay?" Alisa asked Raven. She was holding Lars in her arms.

"I'm fine... just really need a hot shower and some sleep." Raven groaned.

"Shall I take you two to a hospital?"

"No, just... find us a hotel or something. I have plenty of money, just take us somewhere..." Raven then collapsed from exhaustion.

 **LATER THAT NIGHT**

Raven awoke in a bed in what looked like a hotel room. He looked over; there in the adjacent bed was Lars. He was shirtless and it looked like he had received a proper bandage. Raven tried to see if the bleeding had stopped, but it was hard to tell due to the fast asleep Alisa who was laying on his chest with her arms around his neck. Raven looked down at his own body; he was only in his boxers and his arms and legs were covered in bandages. His shoulder in particular was heavily bound.

 _Did Alisa tend to our wounds? She's more skilled than I thought._

Raven decided a shower would be the best thing in the world, so he attempted to get up and go to the bathroom. The pain of his shoulder almost incapacitated him as he grit his teeth and fell forward, landing on his knee.

"Shit..." he whispered. He forced himself back to his feet and, clutching his shoulder tightly, went to the bathroom. He closed the door quietly as not to wake up the others.

He turned on the hot water. As it heated up, he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror. He never realized the seriousness of what he had just been through until he saw himself wrapped like a mummy and covered in red splotches.

"Heh, you look like a winner." Raven said to his own reflection. He scoffed and removed his boxers, stepping into the shower. The hot water was tantalizing to the touch as it hit his back. All the pain in his muscles melted away and his tensed up body started to loosen. Raven couldn't help but groan loudly from the sensation. He sat there for an eternity before washing himself and his hair. He didn't bother to remove his bandages; he assumed Alisa had cleaned the wounds before applying them.

Raven stepped out of the shower feeling 200% better about himself. He was clean, smelled nice, and the relaxing water had eased his pain quite a bit. He didn't bother to put on anything; he just flopped back onto the bed wearing his towel. He fell back asleep almost instantly.

..."Mr. Raven?"

Raven's eyes shot open. He looked up at Lars and a smiling Alisa. He looked out the window: broad daylight.

"Hey, man. You've slept long enough." Lars said with a chuckle.

"Lars... it's good to see you on your feet." Raven as he rose out of bed.

"Yeah, well it's a wonder what a little hot water can do for you. Looks like you know what I'm talking about."

Raven looked down; he was still in his towel.

"Uh... it was a spur of the moment." Raven said awkwardly.

"Fear not! I have exercised human courtesy by taking yours and Lars's clothing to the laundromat! Yours is laying on the bed beside you!" Alisa said cheerily.

Raven looked over; sure enough, there was his boxers and ninja garb. It looked cleaner than it had in a while.

"Thank you." Raven said. "Now, if I could just have a moment..."

"We'll go fire up the SUV." Lars said and walked off with his arm around Alisa.

After they left the room, Raven removed his towel and slipped on his clothing. He then went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He was almost a new man.

"Well Raven, you did it again. The world's still alive, and so are you." Raven said to his reflection. He then left the bathroom and sat back down on his bed. He had one more thing to take care of. He searched the room for his earpiece before finding it on top of the TV. Turning it on and placing it in his ear, he prepared to make one hell of a report.

"HQ, come in. It's Raven." It took a moment, but finally there was a response.

" _Raven! It feels like an eternity since we've heard from you! Tell me, what's the status of Central Japan?"_

"As of approximately 1900 hours yesterday evening, the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation stood down. Nina and Anna Williams have been terminated.

 _"That's the best damn news we've heard in a while. You really pulled through for us, Raven."_

"Roger that," Raven said, feeling a sense of accomplishment at hearing his boss's acknowledgment. He ignored the warmth welling up inside him and continued.

"I convinced the companies to stop fighting and help the citizenry, but there's a new problem. There's no one to take command of the corporations and get their affairs in order.

 _"That's your next mission."_ Raven's boss responded. _"We need you to find suitable candidates to take over the Mishima Zaibatsu and the G Corporation."_

"I see. And you expect me to do interviews?"

 _"Negative. We have preselected the best choices to take the companies' administrative positions. Your mission is to go find these people and convince them to take the job."_

Raven let out a sigh. This was quite a change from the nonstop assassinations.

"Alright, let's hear em."

 _"The first person we want you to find needs no introduction. Now that Kazama and Mishima have disappeared, there's only one man who can return and bring the Zaibatsu back to it's former glory."_

"You don't mean..."

 _"Look, I know it's not a the favorable choice, but you can't argue that the Zaibatsu didn't prosper under his rule. Despite what may go on behind locked doors, Heihachi Mishima is a natural leader and the most qualified. It seems fated that the old man be the one to run the empire until he's on his deathbed."_

"Alright, so you want me to find Heihachi and bring him back. Now who's gonna run G Corp?"

 _"For the G Corporation, you have a few options. The most favorable option is Lee Chaolan, the CEO of the leading producer or humanoid robots, Violet Industries."_

"Chaolan, eh? You want to bring another "Mishima" into this? You know he's not on the best terms with his old man."

 _"That doesn't matter. Lee Chaolan has considerable wealth and charisma, two qualities that make him more than a suitable candidate. Aside from that, he is currently the majority shareholder of the G Corporation due to his purchasing of their stock. If anyone can pull the G Corp back from the brink, it's him."_

"Alright, so Heihachi and Chaolan. Sounds like fun." Raven said with a scoff. "Okay, so who do I go after first?"

 _"We leave that to your judgement. Now go, and complete the final step in your mission!"_

"Roger that. Raven out." As soon as Raven disconnected, the door flew open and in came Lars and Alisa.

"Hey man, we're ready to go. We'll take you wherever you need to go. but after that it's time to split."

Raven stopped and thought for a second. He was considering asking Lars and Alisa for their help in this next step. But the more he thought about it, the more he was against the idea. Was he really going to keep them here?

 _No... they have their own life to live. After everything they've been through, they deserve to get away from it all._

"Actually," Raven finally spoke, "I just need you to take me back to the Seahorse Grand Hotel, if you don't mind. That's kind of my home at the moment."

"Forgive me... if I had known that was your current living arrangement, I would have taken us there!" Alisa said.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Raven reassured her. "You did more for me than I could ever repay, and I thank you for it." Alisa started beaming after hearing Raven say that.

"Alright, let's go then. We gotta get on the road." Lars said, already starting for the door. It was pretty obvious Lars was in a hurry to get out of here.

The SUV raced down the streets of the wrecked city. Raven looked around; G Corp and Tekken Force soldiers were patrolling the area, and there was already some construction underway on a ruined store. Raven couldn't help but smile at what he had accomplished.

"Hey, you look pretty content back there, hero." Lars said with a small chuckle.

Raven quickly regained his composure and leaned over from the backseat.

"I'm not the only hero, here. You two should be rewarded for what you've done."

"The only reward we need is getting the hell out of this country." Lars said. "I'm ready to hop on a plane and not look back." Lars looked at his SUV and patted the wheel one time.

"I hate to leave this baby, but there's no way I could take it 5000 miles. Besides, it's not even a registered vehicle. Once we leave here, it's really a new start. All we have is us, and what money I had in my bank account back home."

"You two'll do fine. The important thing is that you stay together."

"Heh, well you don't have to worry about that." Lars said, grabbing Alisa's hand. She squeezed his hand and smiled.

"As long as the two of us are in close proximity, I foretell fortuitous events will unfold. I believe we can make a substantial living together." Alisa said, still smiling.

"Heh... you two are damn lucky." Raven said gruffly, his smile fading all of a sudden.

"What makes you say that?" Lars inquired. Raven paused for a second before saying "Eh, don't worry about it." as they continued down the road, Raven looked out of the window.

 _You're lucky because you've been cut loose. But for me, there is no escape._

They finally arrived at the Seahorse Hotel. Raven let out a sigh; at least the luxurious hotel hadn't been damaged in the fighting.

"Well, this is your stop." Lars said. Before Raven got out he turned back to Lars.

"So... you're never coming back?"

"Not for anything." Lars said.

"But... what about..."

"What?"

"You're not gonna settle the score with-"

"I'll stop you right there." Lars interrupted. His face was serious now.

"There was a time when killing him was all I thought about. But that was before I realized that what I have is more important." he looked at Alisa when he said that last line.

"I've done a lot of thinking since then. I've decided that I'm a bigger person than they'll ever be. I may bear the Mishima blood, but it's THEIR curse, not mine. I have my own life to live and people who care about me. I'm not gonna waste my life on a petty struggle for dominance. Understand?"

Raven gave a solemn smile.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Raven extended his hand and Lars grabbed it and shook it firmly.

"It was a pleasure working with you again." Raven said.

"Yeah, well I'm just glad you had a better attitude this time around." Lars said with a laugh.

Raven got out of the SUV and closed the door. As they started to drive off, Alisa poked her head out the window and waved, still wearing her goofy smile.

Raven folded his arms and watched as they sped off into the distance.

 _Make the most of any little opportunity life throws at you. I hope you two find peace._

 **To all of the Lars x Alisa fans out there, I regret to inform you that they have to go away from this story now (go ahead and let it out xWildHeartsx). As much fun as I had including them, they were only meant to be supporting characters like Yoshimitsu. Otherwise I'd have to add more character tags, then people would forget this fic is about Raven. But don't worry, there's still more characters down the road! I hope you enjoyed this semi-lighthearted conclusion to the war!**

 **Next, Raven plays career counselor.**


	16. Chapter 16: Reclaiming Power

**I'm really getting better at making larger chapters! I've also gotten into a nice rhythm of updating every night at midnight. So loyal readers, that's your time to tune in. Here's your daily dose of the black BA!**

It didn't take a professor to know where Heihachi Mishima lived. He may have lost his seat of power, but no one could ever take the Mishima Manor from him. Built by his father before him, the Mishima Manor was nothing short of a fortress. Ever since his supposed death, he had returned there in secret and was lying in wait. He trained day in and day out, preparing himself to retake what was once his.

"This is Raven," Raven said to his earpiece. He was sitting atop a tree and had a perfect view of the large mansion.

"I need intel. Any security I should know about? Booby traps? Giant grizzly bear?"

 _"We have reason to believe Heihachi Mishima has hired a private group of mercenaries to maintain security around the perimeter. Guess the old man was lonely."_

"Great. Guess we gotta do this the hard way."

 _"Negative! We don't need you to make an enemy of Heihachi. Get inside the place and don't cause a commotion!"_

"Roger." Raven said and clicked off the earpiece. He stood up and leaped from the tree and onto the ground outside the gate. He leaped over the gate into the courtyard. He scanned the perimeter: there were a few unarmed guards wearing sunglasses and black business suits. He ran around the side of the mansion and started sprinting up the wall. In no time he was on the rooftop of the huge mansion. He stopped and rested for a few minutes since nobody could bother him there.

"Whew... resuming mission." he said to himself as he got back to his feet. He sprinted across the rooftop and looked downward to get a bird's eye view of the perimeter. On the other side of the mansion, there was a small open area surrounded by walls that seemed like the perfect place for training or meditation.

"That must be his private training spot. I could always just wait until... ah, screw it." Deciding it would be easier to just infiltrate the place and be done with it, Raven leaped into the tiny training area and went inside.

"Nothing like taking the back door." he muttered as he silently sprinted down the hallway. Suddenly, a shoji door slid open right next to Raven.

"Shit!" Raven whispered and leaped to the ceiling. Out came a lone guard. He must have been lost because he was looking around frantically. He ran down the hallway that Raven was just in and opened the door at the end.

"God dammit! Heihachi's training spot again! I hate this place!" the guard yelled. He then stormed down the hallway furiously, muttering about why he was even here.

"HQ doesn't want me to kill, but I can still put em to sleep," Raven whispered. He waited until the guard was under him, then made his move. He leaped from the ceiling and directly behind the guy. Using two fingers, he jabbed a pressure point in the neck. The guard gave a gasp and fell over with a shocked expression.

"Good night." Raven whispered as he dragged the body into the room the guy had just walked out of.

Raven ran down hallway after hallway, searching frantically for any sign of Heihachi. But the place was so big it was ridiculous. He was only on the first floor!

"Ugh, let's just go up and hope for the best." Raven said aloud as he ran up a big flight of stairs and ran down the hallways. He came across the occasional guard, which he quickly knocked out with pressure point strikes. He searched everywhere; there was a kitchen, a billiards room, a library, even a room for video games! But the old man was nowhere to be found!

"Damn it, I can't take this anymore!" Raven said, getting red faced. He didn't realize how loud he was until he alerted a guard.

"Hey, who are yo-" the guard said before getting a chop to the neck.

Raven was on the top floor now. He sat down in the hallway; he was getting tired. As he panted, a door suddenly opened further down the hall. Steam flooded from the room and out stepped Heihachi, sporting nothing but a white Rokushaku fundoshi which left almost nothing to the imagination. Raven quickly hid behind the corner; not just to remain unseen, but because he didn't want to see that for one more second.

"Ahhhhhh! I feel completely rejuvenated!" Heihachi said with a booming voice. He walked down the hallway and let out a chuckle or two. Raven decided that following him would be the best bet. He followed behind him as Heihachi made his way to his bedroom. Raven stopped for a moment and allowed Heihachi to go inside.

 _I hope he's changing. God knows a man shouldn't see that in his lifetime._ Raven shuddered once more at the thought and waited outside the door. After about five minutes, he decided it was time to make his move. Slowly creeping toward the door, he was about to slowly open it until he heard Heihachi speaking.

"Today's the day... the day I retake what's mine!" Heihachi let out a thunderous laugh as he drew a circle around the current date on his calendar.

 _He must be talking about the Zaibatsu..._ Raven thought. _Time to fill him in._

Raven slowly opened the door and crept inside, closing it behind him. Heihachi had his back turned and was still laughing wildly. Thankfully he was wearing a midnight blue hakama with a white top that had a tiger face emblazoned on the back. He was also wearing his signature geta footwear.

"Have plans today, Heihachi?" Raven said, finally getting the man's attention.

Heihachi immediately stopped laughing and quickly turned around.

"Who the... you?!" He quickly got into stance once he realized who Raven was.

"I don't know why or how you're here... but I don't have time to play with you, you insignificant little bug."

"I'm not here to play. I'm here to talk business." Raven said stoically.

"Hmph! What do I have to talk to you for, anyway?" Heihachi sneered. "You're not even worth the air you breathe." Heihachi let out another obnoxious laugh.

Raven started to twitch a little. He was REALLY about to lose it. But he kept his stone face and continued to speak.

"I'm here to tell you that you can stop your hiding and scheming. The Zaibatsu is up for grabs."

Heihachi stopped laughing and stared in shock. "Wha-what?! You mean..."

"Surely you know about everything that's happened with the Williams sisters." Raven continued.

"Of course I know! I've been preparing to storm in there and take back MY headquarters from that wench!" he bellowed. "If you're here to get in my way, then you-"

"She's dead." Raven interrupted. Heihachi's eyes grew wide.

"D-dead? But... my men haven't informed me! Damn those incompetent..."

"The war stopped a couple of days ago. I infiltrated the headquarters and ended it myself. Now I'm here for you."

Heihachi's expression changed.

"So you're here to silence me then?!" he shouted and got into stance. Raven felt like slapping himself.

"No, I'm here to bring you back! You're the only one who can run the Zaibatsu now!"

Heihachi's demeanor changed and he turned around.

"That has always been true, boy. For decades I brought peace to Japan and the world from my throne, until that conniving bastard son of mine ruined everything!"

He clenched his fist as he spoke.

"He betrayed me, left me to die in my own temple! And then my whelp of a grandson, in his cowardice, decided to drop in and steal MY power while I was away! Then... he has the gall to use my Tekken Force and wage war against the world?!"

He brought his fist down on a rather expensive looking dresser.

"They're all scum! They all deserve to be crushed under my heel! When I get my throne back, so help me I'll-"

"That's great. Are we going to stand here all day talking about it... or are you ready to come home?"

Heihachi turned around and looked at Raven, a grin spreading across his face.

"We leave immediately!"

After about a 30 minute drive, the two of them were finally back to civilization. In the back of his limo, Heihachi was frozen with horror at the sights he saw outside the window.

"My God! The towns... the schools... the dojos... Ah! My favorite ramen vendor!"

"All of that is a result of Jin and Kazuya's war," Raven said, sitting right next to him. "Reconstruction efforts were underway, but the sisters quickly threw a wrench in that."

"I've been away for too long... while I hid in seclusion, all of this was happening?!" Heihachi slammed his head against the window, leaving a huge circular crack.

"How can I ever forgive myself for this?!" Raven was quite amazed to hear him.

 _Wow... and here I thought Heihachi wasn't capable of guilt._

"There's no changing what's already happened. What's important is that you're here now and you can make a difference. It'll take time to readjust, especially when you've been pronounced dead, but I think that the people will welcome your return. It won't be easy, but if anyone can restore Japan to it's former glory, it's Heihachi Mishima."

Heihachi couldn't help but beam at Raven's inspiring words.

"Ha! That's the truth, boy. Now that I'm back, there's going to be some changes around here! I'll rebuild the towns and cities, I'll strengthen the military, I'll restore the reputation of our proud country! Heihachi Mishima will be revered as a hero!" He tilted his head back and barked with laughter.

Raven let out a slight smile. "Mission accomplished," he whispered.

The limo finally arrived at the Mishima Zaibatsu Headquarters. There were soldiers around the area; some were sitting idle, and some were doing construction on the rooftops. Heihachi wasted no time in getting out of the vehicle and stomping towards the base.

"TEKKEN FORCE! STAND AT ATTENTION!" he boomed. The Tekken Force soldiers all jumped at his voice and stood straight up.

"S-s-sir! Y-y-you're back!" one of the commanding officers stammered.

"Ha! Of course I'm back! You really think I was gonna let some incompetent rat take what is rightfully mine?! Now shut up and salute your leader!"

The soldiers all gathered in a straight line and threw their hands to their head in a salute as Heihachi walked into the base. As he burst through the entrance, he looked left and right, sneering.

"Hmph! This place has gone downhill in my absence." He walked through the place sneering left and right as he walked up the steps to the next floor.

"You could always take the elevator..." Raven informed him.

"Quiet, boy! I want to see this place with my own eyes!" Heihachi yelled.

They walked through the entire headquarters from bottom to top. Heihachi didn't leave a single room unchecked. Finally they made their way to the Grand Elevator. Heihachi pressed the button and was greeted with an unfriendly sight.

"What the... WHO PUT THIS ABOMINATION IN MY ELEVATOR?!" Heihachi bellowed as he approached the broken NANCY.

"Nina put it here for security purposes. It wasn't easy to get past."

"HA! I could destroy this thing with a mere flick of my wrist!" Heihachi boasted. He raised his arm high above his head. Electricity started to flow through his entire body as he began to tense up. A low growl escaped from his throat and got louder and louder as he stored more power. Raven took a step back. With the power Heihachi had, he didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

"DORYAAAAA!" Heihachi yelled as he brought a hammer fist down onto the robot. The top half of the robot was smashed to pieces, leaving nothing but the legs. The rest was a sizzling pile of scrap.

Heihachi closed his eyes and exhaled as he relaxed his muscles and let the energy flow out of him. He then opened his eyes and smiled, admiring his handiwork.

"There, you see? A piece of junk robot has no business being in my headquarters! YAAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAHAA!"

Raven rolled his eyes at Heihachi's obnoxious boasting.

 _Yeah, well you didn't have to dodge bullets, missiles and lasers._

Finally a ding sounded and the automated voice announced their arrival. Heihachi walked through his office, looking around in disgust.

"Hmph, it looks so dreary in here. And what the hell is this shit?!" Heihachi yelled, walking up to the gargoyle statues.

"This looks like something from a horror flick!" He threw a sweep kick that broke the pillar in half, sending the gargoyle statue to the ground. He then brought his foot down on the statue, turning it into a pile of rubble. He went over to the second statue and did the same thing.

"And these chandeliers! What is this, the 18th century?!" He grabbed the chandeliers and with a hard jerk he snatched them from the ceiling, tossing them into a corner. He then looked at the staircase, and his face twisted like he had eaten something sour. On the staircase was a giant metal statue of Jin's studded glove. It was holding a giant glass ball that contained what looked like a holographic globe.

"This... is... a GODDAMN DISGRACE!" Gathering all of his strength, Heihachi pushed the statue forward until it fell like a tree. He then drew back his head and slammed it against the glass ball, shattering it to pieces. Raven was standing far back and watching in amazement at Heihachi singlehandedly renovating his throne room.

Finally Heihachi was satisfied. Looking around one more time, he walked up the spiraled staircase to his throne. He sat down with a loud groan and put his hands on the arms of the seat. He smiled before tilting his head back and delivering another of his signature laughs.

"HAHAAAA! It feels so good! Finally, the Zaibatsu is mine again. MINE!" I dare anybody to try and take it! Anybody with an ounce of backbone, step forth!" Raven facepalmed as Heihachi issued a challenge to his empty room.

"Hey, you! Come here!" He finally said to Raven. Raven gulped and made his way to Heihachi's throne.

"You've done good, my friend." Heihachi said with a smirk. "Tell me... how do feel about serving me here? You could be my personal assassin! A bodyguard, even!"

Raven shook his head almost immediately.

"Sorry, but I'm already gainfully employed."

"That's a shame," Heihachi said, shaking his head. "But... there's at least one thing you could do for me. And if you refuse, I might have to break you in two."

A bead of sweat ran down Raven's face, but he kept his cool.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"I need to you find something for me. My beloved Kuma!"

Raven's mouth shot open.

"What? You want me to find your grizzly bear? Forget it!"

Heihachi scowled and his hands tightened around the arms of his seat.

"Hey, don't forget who you're talking to, you little worm! I order you to go find my Kuma!" Raven frowned at him, turned around and walked to the other side of the room.

"HQ, come in!" he yelled to his earpiece. They responded quickly.

 _"What's your status?"_

"I just brought Heihachi Mishima back to the Zaibatsu, but now he wants me to go find his bear. I refused and he threatened me. Now what?"

 _"Do what he asks."_

Raven's face soured. "You're kidding! I'm not his errand boy!"

 _"There's too much at stake for you to fight with Heihachi right now! Just make him happy and get back to your mission!"_

Raven sighed loudly. "Fine! Raven out!"

He turned back around and stormed back to where Heihachi was sitting.

"Fine, I'll find your pet. But where would I even begin to look?"

"Hell if I know." Heihachi said with a shrug. "Just find him and bring him back quickly. I'm getting lonely without my fuzzy bear!"

Raven scoffed and walked out of the throne room.

"Tch, goddamn old windbag..." Raven muttered as he rode the elevator back down to the bottom. He switched back on his earpiece in hopes that HQ knew something.

"Hey, it's me. I need some intel on the bear known only as Kuma."

 _"Roger that. We'll pull up any available data we have on him."_

Raven crossed his arms and tapped his foot while he waited on a response from his superior.

 _"Alright, it says here that he lived a pampered life with Heihachi in his estate until he was defeated by Paul Phoenix. He then left to train in the Hokkaido wilderness to hone his skills. He returned in the fourth tournament and defeated Paul, but after Heihachi was pronounced dead, he supposedly took matters into his own hands."_

"What happened next?" Raven asked, actually interested in hearing about the bear.

 _"Alright, we've pulled up an old news article here. Approximately one year ago, right before the King of Iron Fist Tournament Six, a large grizzly bear got into the base and attacked the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Jin Kazama. According to this, Jin easily apprehended the bear and dumped him in the wilderness."_

Raven scoffed. "That's it? The wilderness?! That could be anywhere!"

 _"Would you forget about Heihachi Mishima and cool it for one minute?! Use your head!"_

Embarrassed for being so unprofessional, Raven took a few deep breaths and then responded.

"Yes sir. I apologize, sir. Now, you said he was beaten and dumped in the wilderness? If Kuma is as loyal to the Zaibatsu as I suspect, then he may want revenge."

 _"Now you're catching on. And what is the first step for a fighter seeking revenge?"_

"Training..."

 _"And where would he go to train?"_

"The same place where he trained to defeat Paul Phoenix." Raven knew where he had to go.

"Alright, I'm gonna handle this quickly. Raven out."

The elevator opened and Raven quickly walked out. Before he walked out of the base, he turned on his earpiece once again.

"One more thing..."

 _"What is it?"_

"I need a new aircraft. Send a jump jet to these coordinates. And make sure you land it on the roof."

 **Has anyone really taken the time to look at Gargoyle Perch? Looks like something out of a haunted castle. Makes me worry about Jin sometimes :/**

 **If anyone doesn't know what Heihachi's rokushaku fundoshi from T6 looks like...lucky you.**

 **Welp, next time Raven goes to the wilderness to fetch a grizzly bear. Fun!**


	17. Chapter 17: Missing Pet

**NOTE: In my paranoia, I decided to censor all instances of the F bomb. Also, there will be no more dismemberment like in the first chapter. I'm trying to keep this rated T and I don't want to lose the greatest Raven fic in existence because of a violation of the rules. There are people on this site who do nothing but report rule breakers and they've already gotten me once :(**

 **I still don't own Tekken. Enjoy!**

Thanks to his new jump jet, Raven was able to reach the Hokkaido wilderness much faster than going on foot. It also took a lot less effort on his part.

"Location verified. Preparing to infiltrate." Raven said aloud. He set his jet to autopilot and input a set of coordinates. He then leaped out of the jet and landed atop a tree. His jet circled around and flew away to land where Raven had programmed it.

"Alright, let's get this done..." Raven whispered. He was sporting new attire for this assignment: a green camouflage traditional ninja gi and mask. He wasn't wearing his sunglasses. Thanks to his outfit, he would have a much less chance of encountering hostile wildlife.

Raven zipped through the trees at breakneck speed, carefully eyeing his surroundings for any signs of the bear in question.

"Let's see, the reports say he wears a red bandana. That's the key object to look for. Heh, at least it'll be easy to spot in all this green."

Raven continued to fly through the trees for another hour. He searched frantically but there was no sign of he grizzly bear anywhere! Finally he had to stop and take a break.

"This is harder than I thought..." Raven said, panting loudly. He pulled out a bottle of purified water and guzzled it down to the bottom. He led out a loud exhale as he drank the last drop.

"Well, time for plan B." he said with another exhale. He pulled out a tiny transmitter and pressed a button. In about 10 minutes, his jet arrived over the top of the forest. With a grunt he leaped high into the air and landed in the cockpit.

"Now activating infrared." he said as he slipped on his special goggles. He could now detect every heat signature in the forest thanks to his bird's eye view. As he soared over the vast forest, he carefully observed the wildlife, looking for any signs of a grizzly bear.

"Damn it, still no... hey, what have we here?"

He spotted a rather large heat signature that seemed to be sitting idly.

"Let's get a closer look."

Raven slowed his jet to a halt and leaped out of it, landing in a tree below. His jet was floating idly in the sky above.

As Raven got closer to the heat source, he discovered that it was at a huge pond.

"Hmmm... I figured it was about lunchtime. If Kuma isn't your average bear, maybe he eats at the same time humans do..."

Raven stopped inquiring and slowly made his way down to the pond. Sure enough, there was a big bear with a red bandana around its neck sitting near the edge, closely observing the water. Fascinated to see a bear hunt up close, Raven stood back for a while and watched.

Kuma moved his face around and around in a clockwise motion. He seemed to be tracking a fish. Suddenly, he swiftly struck the water with his paw. He removed his paw from the water and in it lay a large white Japanese sea bass. Raven continue to stare in amazement.

Licking his lips, Kuma stuffed the entire fish into his mouth, swallowing it whole. He then knelt back down, waiting for his next catch.

 _Amazing... so the bear knows how to survive out here like any other._

Raven almost didn't want to disturb Kuma during his lunchtime (and because watching Kuma fish was entertaining), but he had to get this mission done so he could go handle G Corp's problems.

He slowly approached the bear, not making any quick movements. Unfortunately, Kuma's sense of smell was incredibly sharp. The bear noticed him right away and quickly turned, letting out a growl that made the trees dance.

Raven was frozen in place. Never in his career had he ever come face to face with a bear before. Kuma stared at him with blood red eyes and bared his fangs that were sharp as knives.

Raven was pouring sweat; if he made one wrong move he would be mauled. Suddenly he decided to do something crazy. He was an intelligent bear that spent a lot of time with humans, so maybe he might understand him if he tried to reason.

"Please! I'm not gonna hurt you!" Raven yelled, showing Kuma his hands. "Do you understand what I'm saying?

"Of course I do." Kuma said with a growl. Raven just stared at him, wondering of that was approval or hostility.

"Uhhh... could you repeat that?" he asked.

Kuma facepalmed and decided to just nod his head in approval.

"Oh, okay... good. That makes my job easier." Raven said with a sigh. "Now listen to me. A lot has happened since you were dumped here. Jin Kazama is gone now, understand?"

Kuma stood up on two legs.

"Jin is gone? That can't be! Then who is in charge of the Zaibatsu now?"

Not understanding a word Kuma said, Raven decided to just continue.

"Jin and those loyal to him are gone, and now your master is back. Do you remember Heihachi Mishima?"

"Remember him? The man raised me! What do you think I am, stupid?" Kuma growled furiously. Raven took a few steps back just to be safe.

"Uh, okay then." Raven said nervously. "Look, let me get to the point here. Heihachi wants you back. Could you just... come back to the Mishima Manor?"

Kuma folded his arms and turned his head.

"Why should I? I don't care about my idiotic master anymore. When I was with him, all he did was pamper me and it made me weak. I lost to my rival! But in this place, I'm strong. I can hunt, hold my own against other animals, and survive. I'm the top bear around here!"

Raven tilted his head to the side as he listened to Kuma's incessant rambling. It was quite amusing seeing the bear move his paws around and gesticulate as he growled on and on.

"And in conclusion, now that my master is back in his rightful seat, I can rest easy. Now he can live his life as the head honcho, and I can live my life here where I'm free and top of the food chain!"

After he finally stopped growling, Raven spoke.

"So, uhh... you coming or what?"

Kuma folded his arms and shook his head.

"What?! But I busted my ass searching for you in this damn forest so I can bring you back!"

"Too freakin bad! This is my home now, so go tell my master he can get a new bear!"

"Ugh, I don't know what you're saying, but I'm not arguing with a bear. You're coming with me, teddy.

Kuma turned around and growled loudly. He was standing on his back legs and had his paws raised high in the air.

 _Oh. Shit. Guess I forgot I was talking to a grizzly bear._

Kuma charged at him and swiped with his claws furiously. Raven was fast enough to dodge them, but his rapid heart rate was throwing him off. For the second time in his life, he was feeling real fear.

Kuma swung his left paw low to sweep Raven off his feet. Raven leaped high into a nearby tree to give himself some time to calm down.

 _Damn, this bear is fierce! And it looks eager to fight! I gotta keep my cool..._

Raven sat down in an indian position and took deep breaths. Kuma was circling the tree from below, eagerly awaiting his opponent. After a few minutes of tense silence, Raven finally opened his eyes and leaped down to Kuma.

"Alright, Mr. Bear... if it's a fight you want you've come to the right guy. But if I win, you have to agree to come back with me. I want your word."

Kuma nodded and got on all fours, making a "come" gesture with his paw.

Raven leaped above Kuma and came down on his head with a cartwheel kick, knocking the bear to the ground. Before Raven could get off of his back, however, Kuma sprung to his feet and threw his arms up, launching Raven high in the air. Raven fell right into Kuma's grasp. Suddenly, Raven felt the most uncomfortable sensation he had ever experienced. He was getting squeezed tightly in a back breaking bear hug.

"HNNGH! Oh... sh-i-t..." Raven uttered as he was squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. If this continued for much longer, he would literally snap in two!

Acting on pure adrenaline, Raven freed his hands and delivered a double palm to Kuma's temple. Kuma immediately dropped the ninja and grabbed his head in pain. He was seeing two of everything right now.

Raven managed to roll away from the dazed bear to buy a few seconds of rest. He coughed and hacked violently as the air slowly refilled his lungs. Finally Kuma was coherent again and charged forward on all fours.

 _Ugh, I gotta get up. Get. UP!_

Raven sprung to his feet and waited as the bear got closer. Thankfully, Kuma did just what Raven was anticipating; he stood on his two legs and raised his paws; the classic sign of attack for a bear.

 _NOW!_

As Kuma came down with an overhead swing, Raven slid forward and clamped his legs around Kuma's left foot, twisting his body to bring the bear crashing down to earth. Raven backflipped to his feet and, leaping into the air, straightened his leg out and positioned his heel right for Kuma's crotch. As Raven fell to the ground, his heel smashed into Kuma's jewels, earning a cry that nearly blew the trees from their roots.

Raven got back to his feet and watched as Kuma rolled around on the ground, clutching his nether region with both hands.

"You dirty bastard! Dirty dirty DIRTY!"

Kuma was growling rapidly, a sign that Raven had really pissed him off. Finally the enraged bear got on all fours and charged. He was picking up some serous speed, and it didn't look like he was going to stand up again. His mouth was wide open; was he going to bite?!"

"It's been awhile since I've had a taste of human flesh! You're about to jog my memory!" Kuma growled furiously.

A sly grin crept upon Raven's face. Kuma was angry, and that made him reckless.

"Too easy," Raven said as Kuma leaped into the air and tried to bite through Raven's neck. Raven effortlessly leaped above the attacking bear. Raven turned upside down in midair and allowed himself to freefall. Spiraling in midair for extra speed and power, he extended his elbow and impacted right on top of Kuma's head, sending the bear to the ground and Raven on top of him.

Raven leaped off of his opponent and looked at the bear; he was on his back with his arms spread out and his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Needless to say, he was unconscious.

"Oh great... how am I supposed to drag a grizzly bear back with me?" he asked himself, putting his hand to his forehead. He finally decided the best thing o do was to try and revive the knocked out bear. Scooping a handful of water, he quickly carried it and splashed it onto Kuma's head. Most of it slipped through his fingers before he got back to him, however, so he only managed a few drops on his face.

"Ugh, there's gotta be an easier way to do this..."

Suddenly Raven remembered he had an empty bottle crushed in his pocket. He pulled it out and, placing his mouth on the bottle, blew hard to re-inflate the plastic. Once the bottle was back to it's original shape, he went to the pond and filled it full of water. He carried it to the unconscious bear and emptied it onto his face.

"AGH! I'm up! I'm up!" Kuma growled, flailing his arms wildly. He looked up at Raven and frowned.

"Ugh, great. I have to go with you now." he growled. Raven continued to stare at him.

"I believe you agreed to come back with me if I won." Raven said with his arms crossed.

"What do you think I just said?!" Kuma growled. "But you know what? It's okay. I had a lot of fun fighting you! When I get back to the Zaibatsu, I'm going to convince my master to take me more seriously and pamper me less. That way I can live an easy life and still be the fierce bear I've become today!"

Raven merely stared at him as Kuma growled incessantly.

"Umm, whatever you just said was your way of agreeing with me, right?" Raven asked. Kuma nodded happily.

"Great. Now, how to get you back to society..."

"Just hop on my back!" Kuma growled as he turned around and knelt down, pointing with his paw.

"Uhh... what, you want me to ride you or something? I've already got my own means of transportation. If you wanna run, that's fine with-"

"GET ON MY FREAKING BACK!" Kuma growled with earth shaking loudness.

"Alright, fine!" Raven said. He walked over to the bear and hopped onto his back. Kuma immediately started sprinting faster than the wind.

"Holy shiiiit!" Raven yelled as he hung on for dear life. This was what he imagined a mechanical bull ride felt like.

 _Well, at least we'll get there quickly._

Deciding to go with the flow, he input coordinates into his transmitter and sent them to his jump jet, programming it to return to Central Japan and land on the rooftop of the Mishima Zaibatsu Headquarters. He then relaxed and tried to enjoy his first bear ride.

They arrived back in the city a few hours later. Raven couldn't decide whether he was feeling embarrassed or like the coolest person ever as he strolled down the street atop Kuma, earning looks from everyone who passed by. For a man of stealth, it was going against everything he had trained for to make such an exhibition of himself, but this one time he was willing to make an exception. After all, it isn't everyday a guy gets such an opportunity.

"We're finally here. I gotta admit, I'm quite eager to see my master again. I just hope he hasn't gone senile." Raven merely nodded at the growls coming from Kuma.

As they approached the front of the headquarters, a few soldiers tried to stop them. But as soon as Kuma roared at them, they immediately recognized him.

"K-k-k KUMA?! Oh, forgive me! P-please, right this way!" The head guard motioned to the door and allowed Kuma and Raven to pass without trouble. Once they got inside, Raven finally got off of the bear.

"Well, we're here. I'll go up with you, but after that I have to split. Understand?" Kuma nodded in acknowledgement as the two hopped onto the first floor elevator. Suddenly, a loud beeping was heard and a message displayed at the top:

MAXIMUM WEIGHT EXCEEDED

The two of them stared at each other intensely, their gazes not wavering for a second. After two whole minutes had passed, Raven finally turned his head and sighed.

"I'll take the stairs." he said as he stepped out of the elevator, scratching his head.

After a long trek up the stairs, Raven was ready to lay down and close his eyes right then and there. He made his way to the Grand Elevator where a waving Kuma was waiting for him.

"Hey, slowpoke! I thought ninjas were fast!" he growled.

Kuma placed his paw on the button and the door flew open. The two of them got inside.

"I hope this elevator can support our weight..." Raven muttered. Luckily, the elevator went up with no trouble.

"You know, this place brings back a lot of memories. I'll never forget when the master kept me at his desk so I could growl at his business partners!"

Raven just folded his arms and listened to the bear carry on for the entire ride. Finally the doors flew open and Kuma took off into the throne room. As soon as Heihachi saw him, the goofiest expression appeared on his face.

"KUUUMAAAA! MY DARLING KUMA! YOU'VE FINALLY COME BACK TO MEEE!" Kuma ran towards him as Heihachi extended his arms for a hug. But as soon as the bear made his way up to the seat, he brought his fist down on Heihachi's head.

"OUCH! How dare you treat an old man like that!" Heihachi grumbled, rubbing his bald head.

"How the hell could you lose the Zaibatsu?!" Kuma growled. "You're supposed to be the toughest roughest bastard in the whole world! I was so disgusted I thought about not coming back!"

Heihachi put his hands on Kuma's cheeks.

"I know! Don't you think I know?! It wasn't me, I swear! It was my useless son's treachery that caught me off guard was all!"

Kuma turned away and folded his arms.

"That's no excuse. My master is supposed to be the best in the world. Why, I bet I could beat you now!"

"C'mon, Kuma, give your old man a break!" Heihachi pleaded. "Look, I promise things are gonna be different now. No one is ever going to take the Zaibatsu from us again! I intend to do good things for our country, and I want you by my side. Together, we'll make the Zaibatsu even greater than it once was! So please... won't you rejoin your master?"

Heihachi looked at him with puppy eyes and extended his arms once again. Kuma stared at him for a second before finally throwing his arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Fine, but on one condition. I want you to start taking me seriously! I don't want to be treated like a baby anymore. I want to train with you some more and become as strong as you are so I can never lose to Paul Phoenix ever again!"

"Of course, my darling little bear! I'll do whatever you want!" Heihachi exclaimed as he continued to squeeze Kuma. Raven could have sworn a tear rolled down his eye. Kuma also seemed to crying tears of joy.

Meanwhile, Raven was standing in the corner with his mouth wide open.

 _How in the hell... can he understand that thing?!_

Deciding he didn't have time to stand around all day and speculate, Raven rode the elevator back down and left the two to catch up.

"Now that that's over... time to go pay a visit to Violet Industries."

 **I had so much fun writing this one! I think it's important for a story to have lighthearted elements even if it's supposed to be serious. I hope you enjoyed it, because this might be my favorite chapter.**

 **Next time: Raven pays a visit to Lee Chaolan.**


	18. Chapter 18: Escape

**Warning: this chapter may...surprise you a little. No action, just feels. And philosophy.**

Raven wasted no time in flying to the massive company known as Violet Systems. Before he went he stopped by his hotel room and changed back into his black sleeveless attire and put back on his sunglasses.

As he got closer to the building, he decided he would much rather take the direct approach as opposed to infiltration for the umpteenth time. Landing his jet onto a rooftop (and hoping no one would mind), he approached the company entrance on foot. As he neared the front door he was stopped by two robotic guards. They said nothing, but proceeded to pat Raven down and remove his blades and shurikens.

 _Heh, well I guess I can't walk into a highly successful business carrying weapons._

Once he got the okay, Raven walked inside and approached the receptionist, who was typing furiously on her computer while chewing bubble gum loudly.

"Yes, what can I help ya with?" she said, not even looking up.

"I need to see Lee Chaolan. He's expecting me." Raven said in a stern but polite voice.

"Name?" she asked.

Raven gulped. Of course she would ask that! Not knowing what else to say, Raven went with his usual answer.

"I'm not authorized to tell you that information. Now, please tell me where Lee Chaolan is."

"Do you have an appointment?" she asked, then stopped typing to blow a huge bubble.

"He'll see me."

The receptionist was so invested in her bubble that she wouldn't respond. Raven folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

 _Ugh, great service here._

Finally the bubble popped and splattered all over the woman's face. She looked shocked at first, but then let out a giggle and started to clean herself off. Finally, she remembered she was in the middle of a conversation and looked up at Raven.

"Look pal, your word isn't good enough. We're running a business here. I can't just let some random guy with sunglasses and funny clothing waltz up to the boss. Name and appointment time, please."

Raven's brow furrowed. He was starting to get angry.

"My name is of no importance, and Mr. Chaolan is expecting me. The longer you sit here and stall, the more of HIS time you're wasting. Now do you really want to waste your boss's time?"

The girl shrugged and continued typing. "What do I care? I'm quitting this job soon anyway."

Raven finally lost it.

"Alright, miss, let's start over. I demand to see Lee Chaolan right now!"

The receptionist stopped typing and glared at Raven with daggers.

"Sir, do you want me to call security? We've been itching to try out our new Combot model."

Suddenly, the phone rang next to her. Not taking her eyes off of a scowling Raven, she answered it.

"Violet Industries, how may I help you?" Her expression suddenly changed completely.

"Oh! Mr. Chaolan! How are you today, sir? Things are running smoothly, sir! Um, actually there's someone here asking for you. Black male, black clothes, black sunglasses, white hair. He claims you're expecting him. Yes there's an X on his face. Very well then sir! Goodbye!"

She hung up the phone and looked back at Raven with an awkward smile.

"Hee hee, I guess I should have told you Mr. Chaolan is on leave right now. You're welcome to stop by his vacation home all the way in Nassau!" She then laughed loudly and got back to her typing. Raven cringed as she stuck out her tongue to lick a bit of gum off of her upper lip.

"Okay then. Thank you for your time. You are so very helpful." And with that, he stormed out of the building. The robot presented his weapons to him, which he snatched and then continued walking.

As he walked down the sidewalk, he switched on his earpiece.

"Raven here. Lee Chaolan isn't in Japan at the moment. He's at his home which is supposedly in the Bahamas."

 _"Roger that."_ the usual voice responded.

"So, what are my orders?"

 _"You're orders are the same, agent. If Lee is at home, then go knock on his door."_

"You want me to go all the way there?"

 _"How else are you going to talk to him? And no, you don't have time to wait for his return. We need G Corp fixed now, so follow your orders and no complaining."_

"Roger that. Raven out."

He switched off the earpiece and cursed his bad luck.

 **AT THE AIRPORT**

Raven got his ticket and boarded the plane with little difficulty; the only sacrifice he made was that he had to go to the Bahamas with no weaponry or gadgets of any kind.

On the plane, Raven found his seat (which was thankfully next to a window) and got comfortable. He fell asleep almost instantly.

About 14 hours later he arrived at his destination. After getting off the plane, Raven decided to take a small walk to recover from the travel fatigue. He looked around, stricken by the beauty of the capital city of Nassau. Though he wished he had more time to sightsee, Raven immediately got down to business and attempted to track down Lee Chaolan. After asking many of the locals about him, one finally came forth with some useful information; his mansion was located right near the coast of New Providence Island.

 _Great... I figured Chaolan for a beach guy._

After taking a cab to the coast, Raven decided to walk on foot the rest of the way. After a 10 minute trek, the large mansion finally came into view.

 _Holy... shit... the place is huge!_

Standing still for a moment to admire the beauty from afar, Raven finally snapped out of it and made his way to the entrance. He knocked on the door for two straight minutes before finally getting a response. The door swung open and he was greeted by a tall, voluptuous caramel skinned woman clad in nothing but a small pink bikini.

"Umm... who are you?" the woman asked.

"I'm here to see Mr. Chaolan, if you don't mind." Raven said, trying his hardest not to ogle the nearly naked beauty.

"O...kay... um, I guess I better go ask first..." the woman muttered to herself. Finally she turned back to Raven.

"Wait here a moment." She turned and ran inside, closing the door behind her. Raven folded his arms as he waited in anticipation. He was secretly quite excited to see the interior. He also wondered if Lee had more beautiful house guests. After daydreaming for a few more minutes, he didn't even realize the door had reopened.

"Hey. Hey mister!"

Raven snapped out of it and faced the woman.

"The boss is out back. He says you can come see him. Follow me."

The two of them made their way through the mansion. Raven could barely walk straight, as he was too busy looking around the luxurious interior.

 _So this is how the wealthy live. Really makes a man evaluate himself..._

The woman led Raven to a sliding glass door which led back outside, probably to the patio. As the two of them stepped out onto the pavement, Raven's mouth flew open at the sight before him: there was a huge built in pool surrounded by many smaller ones. Tiny round tables adorned with umbrellas also surrounded the area. The most notable sight was the multitude of bikini clad girls that were enjoying the accommodations. Some were laughing and swimming, while some had gathered up in the smaller pools to soak their feet. Some were laying facedown on lounge chairs and sunbathing, carefree enough that they didn't bother to be modest in front of their host. The rest had littered the surrounding tables and were enjoying fancy alcoholic beverages.

 _This place is amazing! Once I save the world a few more times, I should really look into one of these..._

"Hey, are you gonna follow me or stare all day? You know what, nevermind. The boss is back there." And with that, the woman walked off and jumped in the pool, leaving Raven to stand there and admire everything around him.

Raven walked around for a while and observed the place. He almost forgot he was on business and admittedly, he wished he wasn't. He finally composed himself and went to go locate Lee. As he walked past the pool, he noticed some of the girls were eyeballing him and beckoning for him to join them. He gave them a slight nod and quickly walked onward.

 _One day, Raven. One day._

He finally located Lee Chaolan near the back of the patio, where there was a perfect view of the beautiful beach. He was laying on his back with his arms behind his head, sporting nothing but sunglasses and a blue speedo.

"So you're the guy who's been itching to see me." he said not even bothering to turn his head.

"Lee Chaolan. It's a pleasure." Raven said. He wanted to extend his hand, but he had a feeling he would be left hanging.

"Well of course it is!" Lee said, a grin creeping on his face. "Now, I would normally not give you a moment of my time on my day off, but I'm so intrigued that you came out all this way to see me that I'll make an exception. What do you want and make it fast."

 _Wow, for such a playboy he sure is straight to business._

"I'm here to discuss the future of the G Corporation with you." Raven said sternly.

"Excellent. That's totally what I want to talk about all the time!"

"You're being sarcastic aren't you?" Raven said with a slight frown.

"Duh." Lee then laughed loudly and took a sip of his drink. Raven rolled his eyes and put his hand to his head.

"Look, I'm serious. Do you have any idea what has happened this past week?"

"I dunno, let me guess. The two lovely sisters Anna and Nina decided to kill each other again, but this time they had armies at their disposal. They are both dead now. Am I to assume you were responsible for that?"

"I might have had something to do with it." Raven said, crossing his arms. I had some help from your nephew.

"Larsie? How's he doing lately?"

"He's gone back to Sweden. He took Alisa with him."

"Did he, now? And how is the little cutiebot doing? She functioning properly?"

"Heh, like new. She really saved our asses."

"Excellent!" Lee jumped up and yelled. "That's the best news I've heard all day! I take pride in what I do after all."

After realizing they were getting off subject, Raven reminded Lee why he was here.

"We were talking about G Corp."

Lee sat back down and reassumed his position.

"Ah, yes." he said calmly. "So let me guess. G Corp and the Zaibatsu are now without a leader and you want me to come in and clean up the mess."

"I've already handled the Mishima Zaibatsu. I hear that you've bought the majority of G Corp stock, so you seem like the ideal guy for the job."

"Heh, once upon a time that would have been true. However, things are different now."

Lee sat up in his seat and removed his sunglasses. He then motioned to the lounge chair beside him.

"Why don't you take a seat, maybe have a drink? I'll tell you a little story." He clapped his hands and out of nowhere a woman brought him a fancy looking beverage with an umbrella. Raven graciously accepted the drink, but as soon as the woman walked away he set it down on the ground. He hadn't touched a drop of booze since the forest and he wanted to keep it that way.

"For the longest time I've hated Kazuya Mishima. He was always in my way. ALWAYS! For being Heihachi's legitimate son, he was entitled to everything that the old man would pass down. I deduced that if Kazuya Mishima was no longer around, I would be the one to get that power when Heihachi finally croaked. So I did what any loving brother would do... I tried to kill him in the King of Iron Fist Tournament."

Raven looked down and rubbed his neck.

 _Talk about a screwed up family. Even the one who isn't blood related is a psychopath!_

"Things only got worse as time progressed. I lost to Kazuya and then was forced to work for him and fight my own father. Not that I had a problem with it." He stopped and laughed loudly, making Raven cringe.

"I finally decided I was done with it all. Heihachi, Kazuya, the Zaibatsu... everything. I decided to found my own company, Violet Systems. And now, to this day, we're the world's leading producer of humanoid robots. That was MY success. Nobody else's."

Raven nodded in approval. He was actually invested in the story.

"I reveled in my success. I was on top of the word: making millions, scoring as many women as my heart desired, and producing a champion fighting machine that even fought in the fourth tournament. But the most important part was that I was doing it all on my own. There was nobody holding me back; not Kazuya, and not my old man. But..."

He stopped and stared at his hands before clenching them tightly.

"I was still feeling it... the Mishima curse was still burning deep in my heart! I wasn't safe from it, even without the blood inside me. I tried to ignore it at first, but it kept clawing inside me! I wanted to kill Kazuya and Heihachi and take everything that they had!"

He let out a deep breath and took a sip of his drink, finally calming down.

"After Heihachi's supposed death, I got to work on Kazuya. Secretly, I began buying the rights to the company he had seized through force. I had more than enough money to pull it off. I was going stage a coup and take the G Corporation and use it to put an end to my brother and then Jin Kazama!"

"So, what happened next?" Raven asked. "What's different? Why have you changed your mind now of all times? Don't you know that..."

"That my father is back? That my brother is missing, probably scheming right now to come back and take everything? Yes, I'm well aware. To answer your other questions, it's simple. I grew up."

"Grew... up?"

"I'll say it again, look at what I've accomplished! I don't know why it took me so long to realize, but now my eyes are opened. Why should I care about them anymore? I have my own life! You see this? This is mine! Bought and paid for! Violet Systems is also mine, and I built it from the ground up!"

"I think I see what you're saying." Raven said with a hand on his chin.

"I didn't have to take from others to get where I am today. I carved out my own life. That's why I'll never be a Mishima, and that's why I refuse to associate myself with them anymore. Heihachi can have the Zaibatsu and my brother can go screw himself. Let them fight their pathetic little war until they're wiped from existence. I won't suffer any."

"That's great and all, but it still doesn't change the fact that G Corp is without a leader. Even if you didn't want the job, you have the majority share."

"Ah, yes! Forgive me for getting off subject a little!" Lee said with a laugh. "Well if you must know, I do have a candidate in mind for inheriting the company. A friend of mine who is a scientist and has been associated with the G Corporation for a long time. She's extremely intelligent and I think she would be perfect to run the company. Have you heard of Julia Chang?"

"Yes. The work she's done in Arizona to restore the forests is nothing short of exceptional. Do you really think she'll come to Japan to run G Corp, though? Her home is so far away."

"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the good of the people." Lee said. "I mean, look at this place. You don't think I want to wake up in this beautiful place every morning and be greeted by these beauties? Julia is a virtuous, selfless woman. I think once she sees the good she can do there, she'll decide to do what's best for everyone. Tell you what, I'll give her a call and tell her to meet us in Japan tomorrow. We'll head back first thing in the morning, so in the meantime, you're welcome to stay here for the night."

Raven looked around at all of the girls.

"Uh, are you sure you have enough rooms?" he asked.

"Oh don't worry, only half of the girls are staying with me." Lee said with a chuckle. "Why don't you unwind, have a drink, maybe go chat?"

"I appreciate your hospitality," Raven said, trying to hide his enthusiasm.

"Hey, no sweat. I appreciate a guy who looks out for the common people. Plus you're a friend of Lars, so you're my friend too."

Raven gave an appreciative nod and walked off to see the sights. He wanted to get in the pool with the welcoming girls, but he didn't have any swimwear and he would be damned if he was going to ask Lee for a speedo. Deciding to sit down and admire the view, he scanned the nearby tables to find an open seat, but there was only one.

He walked over to the table and sat down in front of the young woman who was by herself. From her demeanor, it was clear she had been drinking heavily. She also wore a face that was nearly devoid of life. Raven squinted his eyes and looked at her more carefully: she was young with light brown skin. She had her hair down and was sporting a purple polka dotted bikini. She looked so familiar...

"Is this seat taken?" he asked. She looked up at him with her same emotionless face.

"What do you think?" she sneered, looking back down at her drink. As Raven sat down beside her, it finally hit him: she was Christie Monteiro, the Capoeira fighter. But what was she doing all the way out here?

"I don't suppose you remember me, do you?" Raven asked. She shook her head and then downed the rest of her drink in one gulp.

"I was in the King of Iron Fist Tournament just like you."

"Don't even talk about it!" she yelled, slamming her glass down. She stared at Raven for a second before looking away.

"...I'm sorry. But I'd rather forget about the past and... everything else right now."

"The only thing better than pretending something didn't happen is accepting it, and more importantly, rising above it." Raven said. She looked up at him.

"You... really think so?"

"I know so. And the first step to doing that is to talk about it."

"You'll listen to me?" she asked, picking up her glass. "But why do you care?" Before she could get up and get a refill, Raven snatched her glass from her.

"I care because I'm a human being. The world isn't as black as it may seem sometimes." He then set her glass on the ground next his feet. "I heard about your grandfather, the Capoeira master. My condolences."

Tears began to well in her eyes.

"It's not just him, though! The only other person I care about is also gone!"

"You mean Eddy Gordo, your teacher? I heard that he disappeared from the Zaibatsu and no one has seen him since.

"That's because he's moved back to Brazil. He doesn't want to see me." she sobbed. "I don't know why, but for some reason he blames himself for Grandpa's death. He ran away because he's afraid I feel the same."

She buried her face in her hands.

"I've followed him for so long...always looking for him, always trying to keep us together! But all he does is run away. And now, when I'm all alone, he's not here when I need him the most!"

She wiped her eyes and looked at Raven.

"I'm so lonely now. I have nobody, and it's killing me..."

Raven propped his hands on the table and finally spoke.

"You have to become your own person. You can't live your life depending on others for strength or emotional support. I think you are stronger than you've led yourself to believe. Eddy Gordo will return to you when he's ready, but for the time being it's time for you to move on in your own way. And drinking yourself to death is not the solution. Train, meditate, help a stranger in need, pray if you have to. The pain will diminish over time as long as you don't let it consume you."

Christie wiped her eyes a few more times, then stood up.

"Will you hand me that glass? I can't just leave it laying there." Raven tossed her the glass and she walked away, carrying it back to the minibar. She never came back.

As night fell, the partying had stopped and most of the girls had went home. The rest went inside to bed down for the night.

"You can stay in here." Lee said as he led Raven to a room further down the hall. As Lee opened the door, he looked around for a moment and laughed.

"Heh, ya know, I don't think I've ever seen this one." He patted Raven on the shoulder and walked out, still laughing.

Raven took off his uniform and flopped onto the bed. He let out a loud groan of pleasure; the bed felt like pure heaven. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.

 _I gotta admit, this has been a hell of a day. Sleeping in a mansion... heh, how could this get any better?_

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Not bothering to put on anything, he just walked to the door in his boxers and opened the door slightly. It was Christie. She was wearing a pink tanktop and really tiny black shorts.

"This room's occupied." Raven said.

Suddenly Christie threw herself against him. The shocked ninja's first instinct was to put his arms around her to avoid being pushed backwards. She looked up at him and put her hands on his face.

"You must be as lonely as I am. I know you are..." she said. Raven said nothing, but kept his stoic expression as best he could.

"I just want to feel something... anything! Please... help me." She then smashed her lips against Raven's and tackled him onto the bed. Raven was as shocked as could be. Christie got off of him then removed her top and shorts and walked over to the door, closing and locking it. Raven tried to keep cool, but he couldn't help but stare in amazement at the girl's body. He wanted to ask her to leave, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

A look of lust spread across her face as she crawled on top of him and started kissing him. She ran her fingers up and down his body and grinded her chest against his. Any doubt in Raven's mind was starting to disappear.

 _This is totally unprofessional of me... ah, screw it. I deserve a break after all the shit I've been though lately._

 **ONE STEAMY LOVE SESSION LATER**

Raven put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Christie was on top of his chest. She let out a sigh as she nuzzled his neck and tightened her grip around him.

"You never told me what you're doing here." Raven said.

"I had to get away from it all." Christie replied. "Wars, politics, drama... none of that exists at Lee's little slice of paradise. If only for a little while, I wanted to pretend that all the world's problems didn't exist. That the world is a perfect place, like this mansion."

"But that's not reality." Raven said gruffly, running his hands along her smooth bare back.

"I know that. But doesn't a human being deserve at least one day to be free from it all?"

"Yes, they do. But despite what people tell you, ignorance isn't bliss. In this day and age, you can't afford it. If you spend your life living in a fantasy world, the day will come when reality is too much for you to handle."

Christie looked up at Raven and put her lips on his ear.

"You're really deep, you know that?"

Raven grinned slightly and wrapped his arms around Christie as she finally closed her eyes. Raven closed his as well and, just for a little while, pretended that the world was always like this.

 **Go ahead, pick your mouths off the floor. I had so much fun with this chapter. I hope my philosophy is deep enough for you (and makes sense). Btw, no I don't ship Raven x Christie. It was purely for the purpose of enhancing the story with feels.**

 **Till next time! And sorry for not being punctual. 12:00 tomorrow fo sho!**


	19. Chapter 19: Reform

**This chap is half as long as the last, but don't worry! There will be another one in a few hours :)**

The next morning came quickly. and before Raven even had time to fully wake up he was on his way to the airport in Lee's limo. He was in the backseat with Lee and the multitudes of girls that were still following him religiously. At first he tried to move over to make room, but finally he gave up and just let them sit on his lap, earning a thumbs up from Lee who was also up to his neck in women.

"So, where is Christie?" Raven asked. "When I woke up she was-" he then realized he had just told on himself.

"Ohhh, I see. So you and Christie, eh?" Lee laughed, attempting to elbow Raven but failing. Raven turned his head and scoffed. He tried to fold his arms but he couldn't.

"She took a boat to Venezuela." Lee said. "She said she was ready to return home, but she wanted to take the long way. She also told me to thank you for talking to her yesterday. Heh, and who says just talking to ladies and being a good listener doesn't work?" Lee tilted his head and laughed loudly. Raven rolled his eyes.

Finally they all made it to the airport. After getting their respective flights booked, most of the girls kissed Lee then bid their farewell.

 _Man, it amazes me how some women will come out this far just to see Chaolan on his days off..._

Now that most of the girls had taken separate flights, they were a much smaller group. There were still a few women with them though, which Raven convinced himself was Lee's personal harem. Luckily, Raven and Lee got seats right next to each other.

 _I'd much rather have the classy guy next to me than a mom with rowdy kids or some slob._

After about one hour, Raven finally managed to close his eyes. Unfortunately, Lee wasn't planning on sitting through an entire flight bored.

"So how long have you been in the business of, uh... saving the world? Hey, wake up!"

Raven opened his eyes and mumbled a little before sitting back up and looking at Lee half dazed.

"I let you stay in my house, so the least you can do is entertain me for a few hours."

"Ugh, fine." Raven grumbled. "I've only saved the world once. No one really knew about it though. Not even my superiors."

Lee was intrigued now. "Well, don't leave me hanging! Tell me what happened!"

Raven turned his head. "Why don't you ask Lars about it? He was the real hero."

"Heh, you don't have to be so humble. I have a feeling you and Lars did something spectacular. Something the world will never know about. Am I right?"

Raven rubbed his head.

"Well, sort of. Look, there's a lot that you don't understand. The important thing is that you can't look at things with a black and white perspective. Lars and I tried to do the right thing, and that's what matters. Whatever happened happened. Now, can we please stop talking?"

Lee shrugged and let out a chuckle.

"Well, fine. Sheesh, you're such a sourpuss."

Raven put his head against the window and closed his eyes again. He was in a bad mood now.

 _That damned Kazama. After all the destruction he wrought, he didn't deserve to be the hero._

They arrived in Japan later that afternoon. After piling into a cab to Violet Systems, the two of them finally arrived.

"Here, take them to my house." Lee said, paying the cab driver extra. The girls all waved at him and blew kisses as the cab drove off. The two finally got down to business and went inside.

"While you're here, why don't I give you the grand tour? I can show you my latest models that I'm working on! I'm actually in the process of designing my very own Alisa MK II, but no matter what I try I can't get her to turn out right! Ahh, that girl's programming was complex..."

Raven cringed at Lee's most likely lustful thoughts of the young robot.

"Um, can we just go up and meet Julia?" Raven asked. "I have my own business to get back to."

Lee sighed. "Alright, fine." He approached the ditzy receptionist from before. She immediately stopped typing and looked up.

"Ah! Mr. Chaolan, how are- mmm?!"

She was interrupted by Lee's lips pressing against hers. When Lee finally broke the kiss, she was blushing madly and close to fainting.

"Has Julia stopped by today, beautiful?" Lee asked, stroking her cheek.

"Yeee-yesss. She's... in theeee... office..." the receptionist stammered.

"Thank you honey." Lee said, rubbing her head. "Well, come on." he said to Raven and walked towards the elevator. Raven could hardly move after seeing what he just saw.

 _Does Lee treat all of his employees like this? I wouldn't be surprised if he got a harassment claim or two in his time. Then again, he seems like he's every girl's dream..._

He finally snapped out of it and caught up to Lee. The two of them stepped into the elevator and rode all the way to the top floor.

As the two of them rode to the top, Lee broke the silence.

"I had heard she was planning on quitting soon. I had to give her a little incentive to stay."

"That being...?"

"Me, of course! What woman in their right mind would want to leave when I offer such great... **service**?" He then laughed loudly, leaving Raven to only imagine what "service" he spoke of.

Finally the doors swung open and Lee stormed into his office. He swung the door open and immediately approached his secretary, the second in command and woman he trusted more than anyone else.

"Mr. Chaolan, welcome back. You have a visit-AAAH!"

She was caught off guard as Lee bent her over the desk and kissed her deeply. She moaned at first and returned the favor, but decided to be the responsible one and broke the kiss.

"Sir! That's no way to act in front of our guest!" Lee got up and looked over in the corner at a meek Julia Chang, who was smiling awkwardly and waving.

"EXCELLENT!" he yelled, grabbing her and lifting her off of the ground. Julia gave a yelp as he squeezed her tightly.

"Oh, my sweet Julia how have you been! Are you still growing trees and stuff?" he asked as he nuzzled her chest. Raven meanwhile had buried his face in his hand.

"Um, yeah!" Julia said, still feeling awkward. "Could you PLEASE put me down, Lee?"

"Of course. Forgive me for being so enthralled to see you!" Lee exclaimed, finally setting her down.

"I'd like you to meet... uhh... name?" he asked, turning to Raven.

"Don't worry about it." Raven said, folding his arms.

"Nice to meet you, stranger!" she said, extending her hand. Raven grabbed her hand and gave a firm nod. She then turned back to Lee.

"Now, is somebody gonna fill me in? Why did I have to come all the way here?!"

Lee sat down at his desk and looked at his secretary. "Bring it" he demanded. The secretary nodded and walked off.

"Julia Chang, there's no easy way for me to say this, so I'll just say it. Japan needs you." Raven said, placing his hands on the nearby chair.

"J-japan? But why?" she asked.

"You'll see!" Lee exclaimed. His secretary finally walked back in, carrying a stack of papers which she slapped onto the desk. She then handed Julia a pen.

"Now..." Lee said, a grin creeping on his face, "Just sign all of these, and the G Corporation is yours."

Julia's mouth dropped open and she literally fell backwards. Luckily, Raven's reflexes were sharp and he caught her.

"Wha-wha...WHAT?" She yelled. She was close to passing out. Raven scooped her up bridal style and sat her in a nearby chair.

"Calm yourself." he told her. She took a few deep breaths before speaking again.

"Why... why do you want me to run G Corp?"

"Because you're an intelligent, beautiful woman and I can't think of anyone better for the job!" Lee shouted. "Raven, tell her."

"There was an incident, here in Japan. War broke out again, and the G Corp and Zaibatsu were badly damaged. The G Corporation needs a woman like you to take charge and put them back on the right track."

Raven put his hand on her shoulder and continued.

"I know you can do it, Julia! I've heard about all the good you've done in America with your research. Use your knowledge and authority to bring G Corp back to its scientific roots! With your help, the company can be demilitarized and devote itself to research for the common good."

Julia couldn't speak. She massaged her eyes for a second and was breathing heavily.

"I think Miss Chang needs a drink." Lee said to his secretary. She nodded and quickly ran out of the office. She brought back a bottle of water and handed it to Julia, who gulped it down almost instantly.

"I understand what you're saying." she said. "But how can I just abandon my own country to come fix another country's problems? I'm grateful to the G Corporation for everything they've done for me, but I can't just... I mean how can I... It's not that... WHAT DO I TELL MY MOTHER?!"

She leaned over and buried her face in her hands as the secretary rubbed her back. Silence filled the air as she stayed leaned over for five straight minutes. Lee started to say something, but Raven looked at him and shook his head. Finally, she stuck her head back up.

"I'll do it." she said. "But I can't do it alone. I need somebody... anybody! Somebody I can trust to run the corporation alongside me. A partnership. 50/50."

Lee put his hand to his chin.

"Hmm... well I suppose I can work that out. I'll have to acquire the rest of the company, and we'll have to find someone who can help you. That way you can split the shares between the two of you. Heh, I bet if I go over there right now they'll GIVE G Corp to me!"

"Do you have anyone in mind to help you?" Raven asked.

"Well, not really. I don't have many friends except for my mother and... someone else I'd rather not talk about." she said, her face suddenly twisting."

"Alright, here's the deal. I'll help you find a partner, but I want your word that you'll take care of the company and utilize it the way it was meant to be. I don't ever want to see it used for war again, understand?"

"Yes!" Julia replied. "I'll start to demilitarize the company, and then I can use the surplus funds to dedicate ourselves to more research! I already have my first project planned!"

Raven smiled.

 _She's already starting to show some enthusiasm. Julia Chang will do just fine._

 **I'm still confused about the T6 ending to this day. Did Lars and Raven save the world or not?! They finished off G Corp and the Zaibatsu, defeated Kazuya, blew up Azazel, and then they beat up Jin! But then Jin gets to be the hero?! Unfair, I tell you.**

 **To make up for being four/five hours late with the last chapter, I hereby declare this to be double chapter night! Tune in tonight at midnight as Raven goes to find a worthy companion to run G Corp alongside the lovely Chang!**


	20. Chapter 20: Search and Rescue

**Another chapter for my loving readers. Can you believe it? 20 chapters is a milestone for me!**

 **Enjoy, and don't forget to go back one in case you missed 19. This is double chapter night!**

Raven left Lee and Julia to discuss the finer details of taking over the company. Walking back outside, he scanned the surrounding buildings to make sure his jump jet was still on the roof where he left it. It was.

"Good, now we can go back to Seahorse in style."

He got a running start and leaped into the cockpit, firing up the controls. The jet ascended almost immediately and soared into the clouds where it couldn't be seen. He flew all the way to the hotel and landed on the rooftop. He then leaped from the building and landed right in front of the door, scaring the crap out of a few patrons.

He made it to his room and flopped onto the bed, letting out a sigh. He was so close to being done with this assignment that he could hardly stand it.

"Just a little more, then I can get the f*** out of this damned country." Raven said with a sigh. With that motivation, he decided to get back to his feet and go find his earpiece. Locating it and putting it back in his ear, he prepared to report to his superiors.

"Raven here. I have an update."

 _"There you are. So how did it go?"_

"Lee Chaolan has refused to take authority of the G Corporation. But I believe we have found a suitable placement."

 _"You went along with someone else without our permission? Did you stop to think maybe we had a backup plan?"_

Raven scoffed. "And here I though this was MY mission."

 _"Alright, who did you find?"_

"Julia Chang, a top researcher who advances in the field of botany. You may have heard of her highly successful reforestation of the Arizona wastelands. The girl is smart as they come, and she's worked for the G Corporation before. The amount of good she could do is endless."

 _"I don't f***ing believe it. You actually got Chang?! Raven, this is why you're our best goddamn agent."_

Raven couldn't help but smile at those words.

"Thank you sir, but now I have a problem. She doesn't want to take on the burden of running a corporation by herself. She wants a partner to run the company alongside her. Is there anybody who might fit that position? Scientist, associated with G Corp preferably?"

 _"Now that's something we can help you with. I'm pulling up a profile of your target now. Tell me, are you familiar with Emma Kliesen?"_

"I am. She was one of the greatest minds at G Corp. She was murdered by Kazuya Mishima in his conquest of the company. Truly a great loss."

 _"Are you aware that she had a daughter?"_ Raven's eyes widened.

"A daughter? I had no idea."

 _"Eleanor Kliesen, but she goes by Leo. Orphaned due to the disappearance of her father, a world famous spelunker, and the death of her mother at the hands of Kazuya Mishima. She carries a lust for vengeance for Kazuya Mishima, but as of late she has moved on from seeking revenge and has embarked on many worldwide expeditions, most likely to find her father whom she still believes is alive."_

"Sounds like she's got a death wish, going through all those caves. So what? You think she's good because she's Emma's daughter?"

 _"This girl has the best of both worlds. She's got her father's courage and her mother's intelligence, and that's molded her into an upstanding individual. There's a good chance that if you give her the opportunity, she'll want to follow in her mother's footsteps as a G Corp executive. I think the girl has a lot to offer the company."_

"Alright, sounds like a plan. So where do I even begin to look?"

" _Hold on, we're pulling up some information. According to the local German news, at about 1200 hours yesterday there was a cave in during mining operations in the mountains of Biberkopf. We believe Leo was contracted with a private group to excavate there. There's been no word on any survivors at this time."_

"So she's trapped in a cave in?!"

 _"Affirmative. You know what needs to be done. If you need to refuel mid flight, we have a tanker on standby. Find that brave young lady and bring her back!"_

"Roger that. You can depend on me."

Raven switched off his earpiece and sighed heavily.

"This girl better be something else..."

With the addition of the numerous mid air refuelings that had to take place, it took almost 12 hours of nonstop flight to get to Germany. Raven fell asleep more than once, but luckily his jump jet had a GPS and autopilot to compensate. By the time Raven was fully awake and focused, he had made it to the mountain of Biberkopf.

"Objective reached. Now conducting perimeter search." Raven announced as he zoomed over the mountains and searched every nook and cranny. He was having a hard time focusing due to the cold air blasting him.

"Ugh, I wish I had worn thicker clothing..." he grumbled. He zoomed around the mountain for at least an hour before he finally noticed a small encampment in the middle of the mountain.

"Is that...?!" He descended to get a closer look. There was an assortment of tents, but they all seemed to be empty. There were no vehicles or personnel in sight. Needless to say, the place had been abandoned.

"Looks like they just gave up. Or whoever went in after them didn't come back out..." Raven muttered. "Well, looks like I'll be the first one."

He landed the jump jet as close to solid ground as he could, then swiftly leaped up to the entrance.

"This is Raven; I'm going in. You might lose my signal for a while." Raven said to his earpiece.

 _"Roger that. Come back in one piece! We can't afford to lose our best agent!"_

"Heh, don't worry about me. Raven out." He switched off his earpiece and slipped inside the cave, which was miraculously open.

As Raven made his way through the dark cave, his senses were as sharp as knives. The thought of being rained down on with rocks at any given moment was both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Raven was starting to understand why Leo was so into it.

As he traversed deeper into the cave, he started to see where most of the damage had been dealt; there were numerous heavy mining vehicles turned over and buried underneath piles of rubble. There were plenty of bodies as well; none that were breathing.

"Poor bastards. Getting crushed to death is a terrible way to go..."

Raven continued into the cave. It was getting harder and harder to crawl through the mess until it was nearly impossible. Raven had to utilize every ounce of his agility to get through some parts.

He finally came to a huge and endless chasm. He looked down; nothing but darkness.

"This must be a dead end." he muttered. "But that can't be! I didn't see Leo's..."

He suddenly glanced up and saw an opening up above.

"My God... did she make it up that? The girl's got spunk, I'll give her that. Or maybe she's just plain foolish."

Mustering up his energy, Raven leaped high and aimed for the small opening. He managed to catch the ledge with one hand and pull himself up.

"Heh heh, not bad for a guy who doesn't even have a grappling hook."

As he explored deeper, he was stricken by the sight before him; it was like a whole new place! The rooms were wide and the passageways were long and narrow.

"There's no way this was man made." Raven said. "How long has this been here?"

Raven continued his tiring expedition through the caves and passageways. It felt like early half an hour before he came to another chasm. He looked up; the opening was so high he had to squint to see it!

"Ho-ly shit! There's no way she... maybe she fell here?" He looked down at the endless darkness below. He was actually starting to consider going the other way and assuming the worst. But he quickly slapped those pessimistic thoughts away.

"Get your ass in gear, Raven. You've got a mission to complete!" Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, he prepared for an incredible feat of athleticism. He rushed forward and leaped to the nearby wall, springing off of it onto the wall that was parallel. He continued to alternate up the walls until he made it to the top and quickly slipped through the narrow entrance.

He fell to his back and panted loudly, thanking God for not letting him slip. After a few minutes of catching his breath, he crawled through a small tunnel which seemed to get smaller with each inch. By the time he was near the other end, he was close to being squeezed. Sucking in as much air as possible, He slithered forward and emerged from the hole, falling headfirst onto the solid ground below.

 _God dammit! I am never going through a f***ing cave again!_

As he finally got up and continued onward, he came across a new area. His eyes widened as he was taken aback by the most beautiful sight he had ever laid eyes on; the room he was in glowed sapphire blue and was adorned with crystals that shone with a blinding radiance.

 _Holy... I've never seen anything like this since Azazel's temple! This is amazing!_

As he walked down the passage in amazement, more of the blue crystals were lined up along the walls. He followed the path to a new area and suddenly the ground started feeling really wet. He was standing in the source of a freshwater spring, but it was what was inside the water that surprised him more. It was more of the crystals, but of varying colors that made the water shine like a rainbow.

 _I've gotta tell HQ about this._

He walked onward and onward until he finally reached a dead end. The light of the crystals had faded and there was nothing but darkness ahead. It was an endless abyss.

He let out a sigh. "Well, I guess this is it. There's just no way that she...?"

He stopped mid sentence and looked into the distance. Was that... blonde hair?

"No way..." Raven muttered, his eyes widened. He took a step forward. Another step.

"Well, looks like there's solid ground here." Raven reassured himself. He started to walk forward into the unending darkness until he approached a figure. The person was sitting on their knees with their head down. A well worn fedora was being clutched tightly.

"Are you Leo Kliesen?" Raven asked loudly. The figure didn't respond.

"Hey! Can you speak?!"

Deciding to take the direct approach, Raven walked up to the lone figure. He knelt down and looked at the face; it was the face of a young woman. She had short blonde hair that nearly covered her face.

"You look just like... Kliesen! You're Emma's daughter!" Raven exclaimed. "Hey, we gotta get out of here now! Here, take some water." He held out the bottle, but Leo continued to stare at the ground with the face of a dead person. She continued to grasp the hat with both hands.

"Are you alright? What's-"

"This is where he died." she finally spoke. Raven said nothing; instead he sat down beside her and decided to listen.

"There's nothing beyond this point," she continued. "Nothing but an endless fall. Infinite darkness."

"It's easy to make a mistake in this place. I'm sure he miscalcul-"

"Don't you dare speak little of my father! He was the best!" she bellowed, finally making eye contact with her rescuer. Raven merely turned his head and remained silent.

"This place is beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, turning her head back to the chasm below. Raven nodded.

"It's hard to believe that such a beautiful place could only lead to this bleakness." she laughed. "My father didn't want to accept it. He refused to believe that this was the end, that this is what he had came all this way for. And that's why he jumped..."

"I don't understand." Raven said. "Why would he commit suicide?"

"He didn't!" she yelled, clenching her fists tightly. "Don't you get it?! It was a leap of faith! He just wanted to see what was up ahead! He wanted to believe that this wasn't the end!"

Tears started to form in her eyes.

"He wasn't happy. He wanted... a different ending. So he just... kept walking."

"He was driven by faith and faith alone." Raven said. "But in the end, he made the wrong call. Just look around you. It doesn't matter how hard you want to believe. Believing something doesn't make it real."

"No... it's not true! He was right!"she yelled, leaping to her feet.

"There's got to be more to it than this!" she grabbed Raven's shirt and pulled him closer.

"You saw it with your own eyes! The beauty that this place holds! There's no way it can end like this with some black, bottomless pit! There's more! But we just have to reach out and grab it!"

She let go of Raven and then stepped forward.

"You may not have faith, but I do!" she then closed her eyes and leaped from the ledge.

"NO!" Raven yelled as he threw his body forward and caught her hand. The two of them were hanging from the edge now; Leo by Raven's hand and Raven by his own hand.

"LET GO OF ME!" she screamed. "I have to see it for myself!"

"Don't you get it?! There's nothing here! Your father was WRONG!"

She suddenly fell silent.

"Look below you, what do you see?! Nothing! Just a long, slow drop to the bottom! Sometimes human beings are too curious for their own good, and too greedy as well! But sometimes, you just gotta learn to draw the line! Your father... didn't."

Sobs started to escape from her.

"Then why?! Why would he just jump and leave me all alone?! Now I don't have a mother or a father! If he hadn't left me... I would still have somebody!"

She started wailing loudly now, and her grip was starting to become too much for Raven to handle. He felt his own grip slipping as well.

 _I've only got one chance..._

Raven used all the strength left in his arm and vaulted himself upward. He pulled out his blade and stuck it into the earth, using it to climb forward until he was finally on solid ground. Then he slung Leo upward with all of his might. She flew back onto the ledge and fell onto Raven's chest.

The two of them laid there for awhile, panting loudly. Raven was almost completely paralyzed from having to overexert himself. He couldn't even get the crying girl off of him, so he just laid back and accepted it.

Leo pressed her face against his chest and continued to cry.

"Why did he have to be... so damn stupid?! Was his reputation more important... than me?"

Raven continued panting. He was almost out of air, but he managed a few comforting words.

"If you waste your life speculating what's already been done, you'll never find peace with it. Whatever his reasons were, he was still your father. Mourn him, and don't think any less of him."

The sensation finally returned to Raven's arms enough that he could put them around Leo and stroke the back of the crying girl's head.

After finally calming down about ten minutes later, she poked her head up.

"Who.. who are you?" she asked.

"I'm here to rescue you." Raven said. "I heard about the cave in and came as fast as I could. At first I doubted you were alive, but I decided to confirm it with my own eyes. Good thing I did, too."

"I've never been here before." she said. "That's why I came. Not for myself, but because I thought he might be here as well. He never went anyplace without me..."

She sniffled a few times and put her head back down on Raven's chest.

"I didn't want to leave here." she said. "I knew there was nothing at the end, but I jumped because... I have no family or friends. Nobody even knows who I am now. The Kliesen legacy died with them."

"You're wrong. I came here because you have the chance to do something great. To carry on the legacy!"

She shot her head back up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm giving you the chance to follow in your mother's footsteps. G Corporation is in need of new leaders, and I want you to take the job."

She got off of Raven and fell to the ground in shock.

"M-me? The leader of G Corp? B-but I'm just a-"

"If I thought you were "just" anything, would I have risked my neck to come all this way and save you? I'm here because you can do a great service. Not just to Japan, but maybe even the world. Julia Chang has great plans for the G Corporation. She wants to devote the company back to research and make new strides in the fields of science. She can't do it without your help."

"You really think I can make a difference?"

"I know you can. But you can't do shit if we're stuck in this cave. Stay close to me, and I'll get us out."

Leo laughed. "YOU"LL get us out? I think I know more about this than you do."

Raven smiled.

"Then try and keep up."

 **Whew, more feels... Welp, the moment you've all been waiting for is next. The conclusion to this Zaibatsu/G Corp business! From there... who knows? *Laughs evilly***

 **Next, Raven and Leo return to civilization!**


	21. Chapter 21: Road to Recovery

**I have figured out that maybe double posting in one day isn't the best idea. People seem to be skipping over one by starting with the latest chapter. So... prolly no more of that : /**

 **Warning: this chapter is lighthearted and cute, not really action packed. One might even call it fluff. Enjoy this conclusion to the Zaibatsu/G Corp Arc!**

Raven raced through the cave, Leo right beside him. The two of them decided to make a friendly contest of it in order to not only get through the cave quicker, but to lighten the mood and relieve the tenseness of the situation. Experienced as Leo was, she was no match for Raven's speed and agility.

Raven emerged from the cave with a smirk, a pouting Leo following closely behind.

"Let's go. My aircraft is just ahead." he commanded as the two of them approached his jump jet.

Leo looked awkwardly at the cockpit.

"Um... this looks like a one man fighter jet."

"Exactly. So you'll have to get as close to me as possible." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Leo could have sworn he was getting a little red faced. She couldn't help but smile.

"Fine, I'll sit close to you. But I think you just have the hots for me." Leo teased.

Raven rolled his eyes and the two of them got in the cockpit. Leo sat in front and leaned her back up against Raven, allowing him to drape his arms around her to handle the controls.

"This your first time?" Raven asked.

"Y-yeah, I've always preferred land." she said with a nervous look.

"The I'll be sure to go as fast as possible." he said with a smirk as he fired up the ignition.

Leo screamed and scrunched up against Raven's chest as the jet shot into the sky and blasted off with the speed of a projectile.

Night fell after a few hours of flight. Leo was sleeping peacefully against Raven's chest, and Raven himself was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He set his jet to autopilot and made sure the coordinates were properly input. After checking his fuel gauge one more time, Raven finally closed his eyes. He didn't have much arm room, so he decided to just put his arms around Leo. The two of them slept throughout the night.

"Hey! Hey, wake up!"

Raven awoke to rapid beeping and Leo's screaming voice.

"Hey, man! I think we're outta fuel!" she yelled.

Raven's eyes shot open as he leaned over, nearly crushing poor Leo.

"Shit! We don't have time to call for support!" He yelled.

"Wha-what do we do?

"You trust me, that's what."

He firmly pulled back on the controls and slowed the jet to almost a halt. He then pushed downward and slowly started to descend. Leo, meanwhile, had her eyes shut tight and was hanging on to Raven's arm. The jet finally touched down and skidded along the highway. Leo refused to open her eyes until they were at a complete halt.

When the cockpit flew open, Leo jumped out and kissed the ground. Raven was looking his jet up and down, checking for the slightest damage.

"So where are we?" Leo asked, finally getting back to her feet.

"No idea. But it doesn't matter." Raven replied. He turned around and activated his earpiece.

"This is Raven. I've successfully retrieved the target, but I'm stranded with no fuel. Requesting an emergency refuel. I'll send you my L&L."

 _"Roger that. We'll get to as fast as we can. Hold your position."_

"Roger that. We aren't going anywhere."

Raven clicked off the earpiece and looked over to Leo.

"Sorry for the inconvenience. We might be here a while."

"Eh, well we could be in a worse situation." Leo said with a shrug. "Hey, what do you say we find a place to eat around here?"

"You mean leave my jet here on the highway? Sorry, but that's not a good idea. Besides, I have orders not to move a muscle."

"Aw c'mon" she said, punching his shoulder. "Do you always have to be so uptight?"

Raven scratched his head for a second. Finally he let out a sigh.

"Stay close to me. That's an order."

Leo scoffed. "Do you think I can't handle myself?"

"I don't care if you can or not. My mission is to get you to Japan in one piece, no matter the circumstances."

Leo gave an grunt of annoyance. "You know what? I'm gonna save YOUR life a few times before we get to Japan, then maybe you'll appreciate me a bit more!"

She stormed ahead wearing her same annoyed look, leaving Raven with an awkward expression.

 _Damn, she's impulsive..._

The two of them made their way to a tiny restaurant nearby. They walked inside and Raven observed the surroundings carefully. It wasn't a well kept place; the trash can was flooding onto the ground, the paint was chipping off the walls, and Raven could have sworn he saw an insect or two crawling around.

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Raven whispered to Leo.

"Hey, when you're hungry you tend to overlook the silly little details. Now let's go!" She grabbed Raven's hand and dragged him to a nearby table. They sat down and Raven observed the menu.

"Hmm... Kimchi? Haejang Guk? We must be in Korea. We were so close..." he said, putting his hand on his chin.

"Hmmm, that looks good!" Leo said, pointing to the Haejang Guk.

"I'm not sure you want to eat that." Raven said to her.

"Why, what's in it?" Leo inquired.

"See that red stuff? It's blood. Hardened ox blood."

Leo set the menu down and gagged, causing Raven to chuckle slightly.

The waiter finally approached their table. He was a middle aged man with a horribly sour look on his face.

"What can I get ya?" he grunted.

"Kimchi Jjigae." Raven said, placing his menu down. He turned to Leo, who looked like she was stuck on a hard math question.

"She'll have the same." He said, taking her menu and closing it.

The man nodded then turned around, facing the kitchen.

"HWOARANG!" he bellowed. "TWO KIMCHI JJIGAE! NOW!"

"Alright, sheesh!" a voice called out. "Damn, why you always gotta scream at me, you old bastard?"

The man snorted and turned back around to the two of them.

"Damn kid... he was dishonorably discharged from the military, and now this is the only job he could get. If I wasn't friends with his sensei I'd..."

He then realized he was grumbling to complete strangers.

"Sorry. Your grub'll be here any minute. Can I get you a drink?"

"Andong Soju." Raven said. "And she'll have... banana milk."

"Hey, don't treat me like a baby! I want the same thing he's having!" Leo yelled, smacking Raven in the head.

The waiter eyeballed her closely.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 20!" she yelled furiously.

"You don't look 20. I need some ID."

"Ugh, fine. Just give me that banana stuff!"

The waiter bowed to them and walked off, once again mumbling about Hwoarang.

The two of them sat in silence. Leo had her chin propped on her hand and was tapping furiously with her other hand. Raven didn't dare to look at her, as she was glaring daggers at him. Finally he decided to break the silence.

"Are you angry with me or something?"

"No, but you don't have to treat me so condescendingly because I'm kinda short." she grumbled.

"I'm not! Alright, look, I don't drink anymore anyway. When the waiter leaves you can have mine and I'll drink yours. Deal?"

She looked at him for a moment then looked away and pursed her lips.

"Fine."

The waiter finally came back and brought their drinks. Raven picked his up to sniff it, but he nearly spilled it when the waiter yelled next to his ear.

"HWOARANG! HURRY UP WITH THAT ORDER!"

"I'm workin on it, keep your hat on!" the voice yelled back.

Before the waiter left, Leo grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey mister, where are we?" she asked.

"Changwon, South Korea. What are you, dumb?" The waiter walked off, oblivious to Leo sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well that answers that question." Leo said. "Now fork over that drink."

"Here, take it." Raven said and handed his drink to her. He swiped hers and took a sip of the concoction.

"Hey, this isn't bad. You shouldn't knock it till you try it." he said.

Leo rolled her eyes and took a sip of the strong alcoholic beverage. She immediately started coughing.

"What's the matter? Too much for you?" Raven taunted.

"Shut up! I've just... never had alcohol before." she grumbled, looking at her feet.

"It's overrated, trust me. Here, you want a sip of mine? It's good." Raven extended the banana milk to her, which she reluctantly accepted.

Finally Hwoarang came out of the kitchen, carrying two steaming bowls of Kimchi stew.

"Here's your food. Don't blame me if it gives you the shits." Hwoarang said, slamming the bowls in front of them and walking off, placing his hands in his pockets.

Raven looked down at his bowl and took a big whiff. He picked up his spoon and prepared to dig in, but stopped to look at Leo. She was staring at him.

"What are you waiting on?" Raven asked, putting the spoon down.

"You ordered it, so you have to make sure it doesn't kill me." Leo said, folding her arms.

"Do you even know what's in it?"

"Nope."

"Why don't you try some and find out?"

"After you."

"I don't like people watching me while I eat."

"Then why did you sit at the same table as me?"

"Because you're my primary objective."

"Aw, and here I thought you liked me."

"I do, but if I didn't need to bring you to Japan you wouldn't be here right now."

Raven realized what he just said and mentally slapped himself. Leo just looked at him for a moment with her mouth open, then looked down at her bowl and started eating. She had a look of disgust that didn't look to be disappearing.

 _Goddammit Raven, you're supposed to be a gentleman for Chrissake. Ah, well. I'll never see her again soon._

Raven decided to forget his outburst and eat. He ate slowly, taking in all of the flavors. The most notable was the red cabbage kimchi, but he also tasted tofu, pork, and an assortment of other vegetables. The sensation of the hot stew entering his empty stomach was pure bliss.

After about 10 minutes of eating in silence, the waiter approached them with the bill.

"Here. Pay up front." he said, then walked away abruptly.

Raven was so fixated on finishing his tasty meal that it took him a moment to realize there was no way they could pay for this. All he had was U.S dollars and the yen that he exchanged for during his time in Japan. When he realized finally, he stopped eating and looked up at Leo, trying to hide his horror.

"We've got a problem." he whispered to her. Leo kept eating and continued to say nothing to him.

"I'm serious. We can't... we can't pay for this."

Leo finally stopped eating and looked up with a worried expression.

"Oh snap, you're right! I've never even touched won before! You think they'll exchange?"

"Not a run down dump like this. We may be in trouble."

"What do we do? We can't just steal from them! Maybe we could work it off! No wait, that guy back there has an attitude problem. Kinda hot though..."

"Alright, here's what we'll do. We order something else, put it on the bill. We'll eat it nice and slow until our air support arrives. Then we'll run for it and get the hell out of here, and more importantly, never come back."

"You're kidding, you maniac! I'm not breaking the law!"

"Look, I'm really tired of this. I just want to get you back to Japan so I can get on with my life. If I have to break the law once in my career, so be it. You're coming with me whether you like it or not."

"Oh yeah, well maybe I'll just kick your-"

They were interrupted by the door swinging open. In stepped five unsavory looking characters, all carrying concealed weapons according to Raven's keen eyesight.

"Hey! You in here, Hwo?" the first guy yelled. His other friends were laughing and punching each other.

"Shit, not you assholes!" the waiter yelled. "OUT! Everybody OUT!" He walked up to them and tried to push them, but two of the guys pushed him to the ground and kicked him a few times.

"Don't you ever get in out f***ing faces, you old geezer!" the first guy yelled. "Hey HWOOO! Get your ass out here!"

Finally the kitchen door swung open and Hwoarang came out, still wearing his chef hat and apron.

"What the hell are you idiots doing here?! I'm working!"

"Hey, don't talk like that to your buddies. We come to give you a little break. C'mon, let's go f*** some people up!"

Hwoarang put his hands on his head and sighed loudly.

"Don't you assholes get it?! The war is over! There is no Resistance! I'm not the leader of anything! I'm just a 22 year old guy trying to make a damn living! Now can you please get lost?"

The guy's face twisted a little. "I don't like your tone, Hwo. If you ain't with us anymore, then we're gonna have to teach you a little lesson!"

The five guys started to surround him and pulled out varying objects. Guy 1 had a combat knife, guy 2 had a baton, guys 3 and 4 had crowbars, and guy 5 had a small lead pipe.

Hwoarang cursed under his breath and got into stance.

Meanwhile, Leo quickly slurped down her bowl and shot to her feet.

"This is it! The moment we've been waiting for!" she said to Raven with a grin.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You just finish your food and let me handle this, kay?"

"You're not actually thinking off getting involved, are you? The guy can handle himself."

She gave a wink and ran up to the thugs.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size! Uh, I mean... don't gang up on him you jerks!" She put her hands to her hips and stared meanly at the thugs.

"Well, what have we here?" the head thug said with a laugh and walked closer to Leo, getting in her face.

"What are you gonna do, Miss Flat Chest?" The thugs all burst into laughter as Leo turned red with fury. She balled up her fist and swung as hard as she could, knocking the guy in his jaw and sending him flying out the door. The other thugs were in shock for a moment as Leo turned to them, pointing.

"Who's next?"

The thugs all prepared to rush her, but suddenly a shuriken flew towards them and knocked the weapons out of their hands. They all turned and faced Raven, who was slurping down the rest of his stew with one hand.

"There. That should even the score a little." he said, slamming the empty bowl.

Leo took advantage of their confusion and threw a palm into the second guy's pelvis, the drove her elbow into his stomach, knocking him backwards into the wall. Thug number 3 threw a punch, but the punch was parried and Leo countered with a palm straight to the chin. The fourth guy scrambled to pick up his weapon only to receive a Hammer Heel to the top of his head. As he fell onto his back, his eyes trailed upward to Hwoarang, who had his hands in his pockets and was smirking.

"Hwo, you son of a- OUUUGH!" the thug never finished his sentence as Hwoarang slammed his foot into the guy's stomach.

The fifth thug then surprised everybody by pulling a gun.

"That's it, fear me you sons of bitches! He yelled, laughing maniacally. "Now I'm calling the shots around he-AAAAAGH!"

The thug fell over unconscious, his eyes still open. Raven looked down at the guy.

"No one threatens my objective and walks away." Leo walked up to Raven and smiled, hitting his chest.

"You just can't stop saving me, can you?"

"Thank you thank you so MUUCH!" the waiter yelled, shaking their hands. "As a reward, you two can eat here for free for the rest of the day!" Leo looked at Raven with a smirk.

"See? I told you I'd handle it."

"Hey! What the hell do I get?!" Hwoarang whined. "I should at least get a raise!"

"You're the one who brought those hooligans here! Get your ass back in the kitchen before I call Baek! I have him on speed dial, you know!"

"Sheesh, no respect..." Hwoarang grumbled, kicking the kitchen door open and letting it swing to as he walked in.

"Sooo what can I get you?" the waiter asked politely, holding up a notepad. Raven and Leo looked at each other.

"Still hungry?" he asked.

"Maybe..." she said with a mischievous grin. "But this time I'm ordering yours."

After a helping of Jjajngmyeon (and for Raven, a bitter crab marinated in soy sauce and served cold), the two of them finally left the restaurant and decided to take a small stroll to walk off their meals. They walked down the side of the road for a little while before Raven finally broke the silence.

"I didn't mean to, um... offend you back there."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Look, I know what I am to you, okay? I'm your priority target, your VIP, your primary mission or whatever you call it. I know you only saved me from killing myself so I could go work for G Corp." She looked down at the ground while she spoke.

"Well I... that's true, but... look. I won't deny it, okay? In my line of work, I don't make many friends. Most of the time, I go place to place and I don't stay long enough to make myself known. Yes, you were just another mission to me. But now that we've been stranded out here for so long and we were forced to be together, you've become more than that."

She stopped looking down and finally looked up at Raven.

"Aw, you mean it? Well, as far as rescuers go, you're pretty great." she said with a smile.

Raven opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by an object descending from the sky. It was a huge aircraft, painted in all black.

"LZ secured, commencing refueling." a voice on the radio said. Raven and Leo quickly jogged back to the jet just in time to see the refueling take place. A long rod protruded from the tanker and was inserted into the jet's fuel tank. After a few minutes, the process was complete. The rod retracted and the tanker began to ascend.

"Refueling complete. Continue your mission!" the voice yelled and the tanker flew off into the distance. Leo couldn't take her eyes off of it until it was out of view.

"That.. was... amazing!" she exclaimed. "Are you military? You are aren't you? Be honest."

Raven grinned. "Sorry, but that's classified. Even for you."

The two of them hopped back into the cockpit and took off into the sky. Leo got comfortable against Raven and decided to close her eyes for a little while.

"...hey." she mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Could you fly a little, calmer this time? For me?"

Raven rolled his eyes. "I guess." he said with a small grin.

After a few more hours of flight, they finally arrived in Japanese airspace. Raven hated to wake the sleeping girl, but he decided it was best for her to be lucid by the time they got to Violet Systems.

"Hey, we're here." Raven whispered, shaking her lightly. Leo came to her senses and stretched, nearly smacking Raven in the face.

"Unngh, that was fast..." she mumbled, looking out the window. "Wow, Japan is as amazing as I remember!"

The two of them finally arrived at Violet Systems and Raven landed on the rooftop. The cockpit opened and they jumped out. Leo walked over to the edge and looked below at the nearly infinite drop.

"Hey, what gives?! How are we supposed to-EEK!"

She was caught off guard by Raven scooping her up in his arms and leaping from the rooftop. Leo was in such shock that she just screamed and wrapped her arms around Raven's neck, nearly strangling him. Despite being unable to breathe, Raven easily landed on his feet at the entrance of the headquarters. Raven set Leo down and she immediately fell to her knees.

"C-c-can we please not do that again? I don't like long drops unless I'm hooked to a rope." she stammered.

"Sorry," Raven said, helping her to her feet. The two of them walked inside the building. Raven had to drag the captivated Leo by her hand to get her inside the elevator.

"You seem pretty overwhelmed by all of this." Raven said to the wide eyed girl.

"It's just... new to me. In case you couldn't tell, I've spent most of my life crawling around in dark caves."

"Heh, if this is overwhelming, wait until you see the Millennium Tower."

Leo looked down at her feet. "Um, Mr. Agent... could I tell you something?"

"My codename is Raven." Raven finally told her.

Leo rubbed her hands together. "Well, Mr. Raven..."

"Just Raven. And what are you so nervous for all of a sudden?"

"I'm scared, okay?!" Leo yelled, slamming her fist into the wall. "I'm not used to the big city or big corporations! I just... what if I mess up?"

Raven put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's normal to be nervous, especially when you're taking on such a big responsibility. But I see great things in you, Kliesen. If you're anything like your mother, you'll be a great asset to the G Corp for decades to come."

Leo smiled and touched his hand. "Thank you, Raven. You know, you're pretty deep for such a stoic guy."

"You're the second person to tell me that." Raven said with a small grin.

The elevator finally made it to the top and the two of them arrived at Lee's office. Raven started to knock, but Leo grabbed his hand.

"Wait. Before we go in, can we get a couple of things out of the way?" she asked. Raven nodded.

"First of all, don't ever tell what happened in that cave, okay?"

"Of course." Raven replied.

"Secondly..."

She suddenly grabbed his face and pulled him in for a quick kiss. Before Raven even had time to be surprised, she pulled back.

"That's for saving me, and... for everything else." She then threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

"You've really helped me in more ways than I can count. I'll always be grateful to you and I'll never forget you."

She then let go of Raven and turned around.

"Now, let's get down to business."

She knocked on the door, and it was opened by Lee's secretary. The two of them approached Julia and a beaming Lee.

"So you brought her? EXCELLENT! Me and the lovely Miss Chang have finished acquiring all of the G Corporation. Now you can split the rights between the two of you!"

Leo walked up to Julia and extended her hand.

"So you're Julia Chang? Eleanor Kliesen, but you can call me Leo."

Julia smiled brightly and shook her hand

"It's so nice to meet you, Leo! I'm looking forward to working with the daughter of Emma!"

"Excellent, simply marvelous! Seeing two intelligent young beauties come together to help our humble nation is a dream come true!"

Lee finally calmed down and motioned for the two of them to sit down.

"Now, if you would sign here, here, here..."

Raven took the opportunity to slowly slip out of the room, closing the door behind him quietly. He stepped back in the elevator and folded his arms as it rode back down to the bottom.

 _Leo Kliesen, huh? Well, HQ was right about one thing. She's a hell of a girl._

 **EPILOGUE**

Raven landed his aircraft on the top of the Seahorse Hotel and made his way back to his luxury room. He threw himself onto his bed and sighed loudly. Suddenly, all of the tension and stress in his body melted away. His mission was finally complete. Sitting up in his bed, he clicked on his earpiece.

"HQ, It's Raven. Got some news for you."

 _"What's up? Did you successfully deliver Kliesen?"_

"Affirmative. The mission is complete. The war is over and the Zaibatsu and the G Corp are now under new management. Japan is sitting pretty."

 _"That is goddamn music to our ears, agent. You are a Godsend."_

"Just doing my job, sir. What are my orders?"

 _"Consider yourself on leave... for now."_

Raven couldn't help but smile with relief. "Roger that. I'll keep in touch. Raven out."

He switched off his earpiece and flopped onto his bed, preparing to enjoy the first time off he's had in a long time.

 **Whew... this chapter was exhausting, but so much fun!** **Don't let the epilogue fool you; this story is NOT OVER! I repeat, NOT! OVER! There's two more smaller arcs to go through. Don't worry, they're not nearly as long as this one! There's still more to see! More characters! More conflicts! More war! But for now, don't be expecting daily updates. For those who have made it this far, I love each and every one of you! Keep reading!**


	22. Chapter 22: Patrol

**Here's a fun little chapter just to prove that It's not over yet. The next plot is soon to come!**

 **A special thanks to FNAFFRENZYCAT and xWildHeartsx for being my two loyal (and only) reviewers. Oh and shoutout to my dear buddy masterman for reviewing at least once. You guys keep me motivated! As usual I don't own Tekken or its characters. Enjoy!**

Five months have passed since war broke out once again in Japan. Since that time, Heihachi took over the Zaibatsu and it thrived under his rule. The speed of Japan's reconstruction had increased tenfold under his supervision. Meanwhile, Julia Chang and Leo Kliesen have disbanded the G Corporation military and reassigned them to work for the Tekken Force, strengthening the Zaibatsu exponentially. The surplus funds from demilitarizing the G Corp have been used for reconstruction efforts and research that, in the long run, could benefit mankind and improve life on Earth. Many fresh new minds are flocking to join and support the G Corp any way they can. Japan is once again thriving as it once did.

 **MEANWHILE, IN AMERICA...**

Raven was sitting atop a building, looking down at the empty streets below. The place was practically desolate, save for the occasional passing vehicle. Raven sighed and put his hand to his earpiece.

"Raven here. I'm in the vicinity. So... what am I doing here again?" After a moment, his earpiece spoke.

 _"This small urban area is suffering from an exceptionally high crime rate. Looting, vandalism, rapings, and even murder occurs here almost every night. Your mission is to patrol the town, looking out for any signs of trouble. You see any troublemakers, you beat the shit out of them. You have permission to use lethal force, but ONLY as a last resort. Clean up this place!"_

"Roger that. Over and out." Raven said, and leaped onto another rooftop. He began to jog at a decent pace, leaping from roof to roof and scanning the nearby alleys and dark corners.

 _Heh, so this is what I'm reduced to now. Patrolling the streets like some kind of vigilante. Well, at least this means the world isn't as bad off as I thought..._

Suddenly, a scream filled the air. Raven quickly shot up and took off after the area where the voice had resonated.

"Maybe tonight won't be such a bore after all..." he muttered as he raced to the source of the voice: a run down gas station. When he approached the scene, he witnessed three thugs cornering a terrified woman.

"That's close enough." Raven said firmly. The three thugs quickly turned around and drew their switchblades. They were all wearing grimaces, but when they saw Raven their expressions changed dramatically as if they were expecting someone else.

"Who the f*** are you?" the first guy asked. He turned to his buddies and started muttering. Raven leaned in closer to listen.

"...this isn't the guy... supposed to be bigger..." he heard. Raven rolled his eyes and got into stance.

"Look, if you guys are done screwing around, I'm here to put an end to you're harassment. Prepare yourselves!" Raven shouted. The thugs turned back around.

"Uhhh... look pal, we really don't want any trouble. Could you just get lost?" the second guy asked, his buddies nodding in agreement.

"Look, we'll just walk away." the third guy chimed in. He turned to the woman and patted her head like a dog.

"See? We're nice, friendly folks!" the guy said with a cheesy grin. Even the woman was smiling, strangely enough. As she smiled, she gave Raven a thumbs up.

Raven could only stare with a look of confusion. After a few more seconds, he shook his head and started to walk away.

"Whatever," he muttered. The three thugs and the woman all let out a sigh of relief before huddling together.

"What do we do? There's another guy here and he looks like the 'clean up the streets' type!" the first guy said.

"Why are we even doing this? The guy's got no money anyway!" the second guy added.

"Besides, if we get mistaken for actual thugs we could end up getting our faces kicked in!" the third guy said. The woman, with an annoyed expression, slapped the three of them across the cheek at once.

"Will all of you SHUT UP?" she yelled. "Look, I know this is a long shot, but this is Paul Phoenix we're dealing with! He's one of the best fighters there is and he's promised to pay us a generous sum when he wins the King of Iron Fist Tournament Seven! If you idiots just help me pull this off, we can get on his good side! Understand?"

The three guys nodded in unison

"Good. Now let's move to a different street corner and try again. This 'Fat Hero' is bound to come around eventually! And remember boys... make it convincing."

Raven raced across the rooftops and looked for a REAL threat this time. Suddenly, he heard a hail of gunfire go off near the Burger Place down the street.

"Shots fired!" Raven shouted as he raced towards the scene of the battle. When he arrived, the situation was grave: A small group of armed men were exchanging gunfire in the parking lot. At least one man had been hit.

"That's enough!" Raven shouted as he threw his shuriken. The shuriken zoomed towards them and struck the weapons out of three of the guys' hands. The other armed men looked up in shock as Raven leaped in the sky and came down with his blades drawn. With a lightning fast slash, the guns fell out of their hands.

"Who the... another guy tryin' to play hero in OUR town?" one man sneered. Raven sheathed his blades and got into stance.

"You're reign of terror here is at an end. I won't allow this town to be corrupted by gangs and violence."

The thugs all looked at each other.

"Well, I guess we'll have to call a truce for now." the head thug said to the opposing gang leader. "We got another 'hero' to take care of!"

The thugs all prepared to rush Raven when suddenly a voice boomed from out of nowhere.

"SPEEEED AAAAAND WEEEEEEIGHT!"

The thugs all stopped immediately and looked around, worried expressions on all of them.

"Oh shit! He's back!" one of the gangsters shouted. "What do we do?!" another asked.

"Shut yer pie holes!" the leader yelled, pulling out a knife. "We'll deflate the tubby bastard!"

Suddenly, a drop kick came from out of nowhere and took out the head thug. The thugs all backed up in fear at the sight before them: a large man with blonde hair and a small beard. He was wearing a red shirt and jeans held up with suspenders. His most noticeable feature was his size, however; the man was seriously overweight.

"Oh shit, it's the Fat Hero!" the thugs all screamed at once.

With a grin, the man rushed forward and delivered a lightning fast tornado kick, taking out two of the thugs at once. He then spun around and swung his arm, clothes-lining another thug that tried to stab him from behind.

"You're f***ing DEAD!" the other gang leader yelled, charging from behind with a knife. Not even turning around, the man leaped high in the air and backflipped over the thug, landing behind him. He then brought his elbow down on the thug's head and dropped him like a domino. The last two thugs charged from behind. The man leaped backwards and spun around swiftly in mid air. He then thrust out his hands as he flew forward and struck both of them in the nose with his palms, knocking them out instantly. Doing a mid air spiral, the large man landed on his feet without breaking a sweat.

Raven's mouth nearly dropped to the ground in response to what he just saw. The man walked towards Raven and closed his mouth for him with a grin.

"Another disaster averted." he said with a chuckle. "Are you okay, citizen? Gee, you sure are dressed funny."

Raven shook his head to come back to his senses, then cleared his throat and spoke.

"Those were some impressive moves you pulled off. I'm surprised a man of your... uh..."

"Say no more," he interrupted. "I get the same response all the time. The name's Bob." He extended his hand to Raven, who returned the favor with a handshake.

"So Bob, huh? Are you the self appointed 'enforcer' of the area?" Raven asked, to which Bob laughed.

"Enforcer? I'm a hero, bub. Every night I save the people of this town from getting shot, stabbed, and otherwise having their night ruined."

 _A hero, huh? I wonder why HQ didn't have any intel..._

"I appreciate what you're doing here then, Bob." Raven said. "I had heard that this place was getting worse and worse. Guess that isn't the case with you around." Bob beamed at Raven's encouraging words.

"Heh, you're alright, pal!" he yelled, slapping Raven's back and nearly knocking him over. "What do you say we go get a bite to eat? I know a place that's open twenty four-"

Bob was cut off by a blood curdling scream. The two of them immediately turned around.

"You heard that too, right?" Bob asked.

"Of course." Raven said. "Try and keep up."

Raven darted forward, Bob following closely behind.

The two of them made their way to a dark alley, where a woman was being groped by three thugs. Her clothes were half torn.

"Alright, that's-" But before Raven finished, he looked at them closely. It was the four from before!

Raven put his hand to his head.

"What the hell are you guys-"

"UNHAND THAT WOMAN!" Bob yelled, leaping from a nearby rooftop and landing on his feet with a loud crash. The three thugs smiled and looked at the woman, who gave a nod.

"Alright, nobody move!" The first guy yelled, pulling a gun and putting it to the woman's head. Bob and Raven froze immediately.

 _Maybe I could... shit, he's too close to her!_

The thug put his arm around the woman's neck and dragged her away with him, the other two thugs following closely behind with their knives pointed at her.

"If you want the girl back, follow us to the alley at 123 Dark Avenue!" the second guy yelled. "But I want you to wait five minutes before tailing us! If you get too close, she's toast!"

The thugs all laughed and dragged the screaming woman away, Raven and Bob not willing to pursue. Finally, once they were out of sight, Bob turned to Raven.

"It's these jobs right here that I live for." he said before starting to run after them. Raven grabbed his arm and stopped him, however.

"I'm not sure these guys are serious." he told Bob. "I've run into them once tonight already, and their hearts weren't in it. I think they're luring you into a trap."

Bob put his hand to his chin.

"A trap, eh? Well that's a risk I have to take. I swore to fight until I cleaned up this town, and I won't get cold feet because of a little bluff!"

"I understand" Raven said, letting go of his arm. "But you're not going alone. I was sent here to clean up this place also, so I've got your back."

Bob nodded, and the two of them raced after the thugs.

Meanwhile, the four con artists arrived at the alley, whooping and laughing.

"Ha ha! We got him this time!" the woman cheered, high fiving her cohorts.

"Now we just gotta lead em here, and then Paul can-"

"HEY! ZIP IT!" a voice bellowed. The four of them jumped and turned around. There sat Paul Phoenix, looking in a mirror and grooming his pillar of hair.

"You said fat boy's on the way?" he asked, to which the four of them nodded. A grin crept upon his face.

"Excellent..." he muttered. He then stood up and slammed the mirror against the wall, breaking it.

Raven and Bob raced down the streets, looking for any street signs. Finally Raven spotted one in the distance.

"There!" he yelled, pointing. "123 Dark Avenue!"

"Let's see if we can get the drop on em!" Bob replied. The two of them circled around and climbed onto a nearby rooftop, giving them a bird's eye view of the alley. To Bob's shock, the three thugs and the woman were conversing! There was also one more man to the side, wearing a black leather jacket with a flaming skull on the back. He had a black tanktop underneath. He was also wearing blue jeans with huge black boots that looked to be at least a size 15.

"So you're sure we'll get the money?" the woman asked him. "We've done our part!"

"Relax.." Paul said with a grin. "The only reason I didn't win last time is because my buddy Marshall and I were disqualified on false charges. But don't worry! We've trained harder than ever and this time we'll win that prize money for sure! Then you'll get your 2%."

"Do you know who that is?" Raven asked Bob.

"Never seen him..." Bob whispered.

"That's Paul Phoenix, an Iron Fist veteran. According to our intel, he's been in every tournament and he always makes it to the semifinals. He's extremely powerful."

"But what does he want with these guys?" Bob asked.

"I dunno... but it looks like I was right. This was all a scam."

"Those bastards... they'll pay for this!"

Without warning, Bob leaped from the rooftop and landed in the alley, causing the ground to shake. The five of them all turned around, surprised.

"What the hell is this?!" Bob barked. "You guys lured me here, didn't you? And for what? You wanna put an end to me for a little pocket change?!"

"N-n-no, that's not what..." the woman stammered.

"I'll take it from here, toots!" Paul said with a smile, stepping forward. The others all ran away and hid. Raven also stayed hidden, biding his time before making his next move.

"So you're the 'Fat Hero' I've heard so much about," Paul said with a grin.

"Yeah that's right, Pillar Head," Bob retorted,

"I've been waitin' for this for a long time!" Paul yelled as he removed his jacket. His huge muscular arms were now on full display.

"Oh, and be sure to thank my little buddies," Paul said, pointing behind him with his thumb.

"They've been puttin' on a little act for a while now, just waiting for you to show up and take the bait."

"What do you want with me anyway?" Bob asked.

"Heh, simple. I just wanna take on the biggest, baddest, toughest fighters there are to assert my dominance!" Paul said, pointing at himself and smiling. "There's only one guy who can be called the toughest in the universe, and that guy is ME!"

Paul got into stance, coaxing Bob to do the same.

"When I wipe the floor with you, I'll have one less guy in my way to the top!" Paul yelled, laughing loudly.

Raven had heard enough. He started to intervene, but Bob looked at him and put his hand up, signaling to not interfere. Raven sat back down and watched in anticipation.

Two two fighters circled each other slowly, daring the other to make the first move.

"Any last words, tubby? Paul asked.

"Yeah. Next time maybe you should try a different hairdresser." Bob replied with a smirk.

Paul gave a wild yell and charged forward, his fist raised. He approached Bob and unleashed his signature Phoenix Smasher. Bob leaped and did a double backflip over his head, landing gracefully on his feet behind him. Paul turned around just fast enough to receive a superman punch to his face, knocking him into the nearby wall.

Paul got up slowly and spit on the ground beside him. Raising his fists once again, he waited this time for Bob who took the initiative. Bob charged forward and threw a punch, but Paul, a Judo specialist, managed to grab his arm and flip the obese man over his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him. As Bob hit the ground with a thud, Paul delivered a punch to the man's gut, knocking the breath out of him. Bob wheezed and rolled around in pain as Paul backed to a safe distance and got back into Judo stance.

Bob leaped to his feet and charged at Paul with his fist raised. But as soon as Bob got within range, Paul surprised him by taking the initiative and sweeping him off of his feet with a kick. Before Bob could hit the ground, Paul unleashed an elbow that struck him in midair and knocked him into the wall.

"Ha! Now you know how it feels!" Paul yelled with a laugh. Bob got to his feet slowly; he was clearly in pain from the extensive damage done to his stomach. Panting loudly, Bob got back to his feet. Paul was wearing a smug grin as he decided to risk charging towards Bob. Paul closed distance and threw a hammer punch which Bob managed to block by putting both hands above his head in an x shape.

"Shit!" Paul yelled. Bob smiled and grabbed Paul's wrist, then threw a kick to Paul's shin and staggered him. Stuck in Bob's grasp, Paul was unable to stop the onslaught of blows to his stomach, courtesy of Bob's right hand. Paul's insides felt like they were turning to mush as Bob rained blow upon blow in his stomach. Finally Bob ended the onslaught by letting go of Paul's arm and springing upward with his fist aimed directly at Paul's chin. As Bob leaped into the air, his fist crashed into Paul's chin and sent him skyrocketing in what had to be one of the most devastating uppercuts Raven had ever witnessed.

Paul crashed into the ground with a yell as Bob held his pose with his fist raised high. Paul struggled to get to his feet, but he wasn't out yet.

"Not... over... yet!" Paul said, raising his fists. Bob and Paul circled each other one last time, their fists raised high. The air was tense as they both anticipated each other's slightest movements. Raven stared intensely; this was one hell of a fight.

Finally the silence was broken when they both gave a battle cry and leaped forward. Their fists collided as they threw punch after punch. Paul swung with a right hook and Bob swatted the punch with his left hand then countered with a straight punch of his own. Paul caught his punch and Judo flipped him once again. But to Paul's surprise, Bob landed on his feet. Bob then jumped and twisted his body in midair to throw a spinning superman punch to Paul's face. Paul caught the punch in midair and delivered a hip throw that slammed him into the ground. Bob cried in pain at the feeling of his back hitting the asphalt a second time.

"Ha, now I got ya!" Paul yelled as he mounted the pained fighter and started beating his face rapidly. Bob was completely helpless, and he felt himself losing consciousness at Paul's forceful blows.

 _I can't let this continue!_

Raven decided he had watched long enough and, using the hand motions of Ninjitsu, quickly teleported down to where Bob was being assaulted. As Paul raised his fist once more, Raven caught his punch and performed a one armed shoulder throw, launching Paul to the ground. Paul quickly shot to his feet to get a look at his attacker.

"Who the... a new challenger, eh?" Paul sneered, getting in Raven's face.

"Fine, I'll take you down too!"

"The fight's over." Raven said sternly. "You've already won. Now yield."

"What? You gonna boss me around?! Me the toughest fighter in the unive-"

He was interrupted by a sweep kick that floored him instantly. Raven then leaped into the air with a backflip and came down toward Paul's head with his leg extended. But as Raven descended, he bended his leg so that his shinbone crashed into Paul's face upon impact. The attack rendered Paul unconscious immediately.

Raven got back to his feet and quickly ran over to Bob, who was on the ground coughing up blood. Raven helped him roll onto his side so he could properly recover. Bob coughed and spit a few times, Raven patting the hurt man's back.

"Uuuugh... I'll be fine in a few minutes..." Bob said, coughing. Raven looked over at Paul, who had regained consciousness and was spitting his own blood.

"You calmed down now?" Raven asked, approaching the overly aggressive man.

"Ugh... I'm... number... one..." Paul groaned, holding his face in pain.

"You're a skilled fighter, Paul Phoenix. It's a shame that you're wasting your life pursuing your egotistical ideals." Raven said, shaking his head and folding his arms.

"You know... you're a hell of a fighter." Bob said with a laugh. He had finally gotten to his feet and walked over to Paul. He approached the man and extended his hand.

"I'm sure you've seen it as well as I have, but this place is in pretty bad shape. Between the two of us, we could be a badass duo. Whattaya say? Let's team up and clean up this town!"

Paul looked up at Bob, who was grinning. Paul smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Well, it would be an opportunity to kick some more asses." Paul said with a chuckle. He got to his feet and the two of them fist bumped.

Raven turned around and put his hand to his earpiece.

"Mission accomplished. I don't think you have to worry about this place any longer." he said, a smile tugging at his lips. As the two of them laughed and compared their muscles, Raven took the opportunity to quietly slip away.

Meanwhile, the four con artists were confused as heck.

"Ummm... so did we do the job or what?" one of the guys asked. The woman groaned loudly and facepalmed.

Raven made his way back to his jump jet and prepared to take off when suddenly, his earpiece activated.

 _"Raven! Pick up!"_

Raven immediately put his hand to his earpiece.

"Raven here. What's up?"

 _"You need to get the hell to Japan right now."_

"What, what happened?"

 _"The town of Kamakura has just been bombed."_

 **Dun dun duuuuuun! The plot picks back up! I wanted to do more "filler" chapters, but I'm almost out of ideas here so this will probably be the only one. This story is going all the way to the end. No detours!**

 **Next time... an investigation! Boring, I know. But the action will pick up soon with the introduction of someone I'm sure you'll all enjoy.**


	23. Chapter 23: Aerial Showdown

**I lied, actually. This chapter ended up being something out of an action movie instead of just a boring investigation. Just a word of warning, this chapter features EASILY the most epic confrontation of this story.**

 **As usual I don't own Tekken or military weaponry. Enjoy this epic epic EPIC chapter!**

Raven wasted no time in heading back to Japan in his high speed jump jet. In less than half a day, Raven made it to the beach city of Kamakura. Not bothering to be discreet, Raven soared across the sky and observed the horrific wreckage before him: buildings were crumbling, vehicles were ablaze, and large craters littered the area. There were dozens of bodies scattered about, and even the sirens couldn't drown out the screams of those who had survived.

"Oh my God... who could have done this?" Raven asked aloud. He couldn't bring himself to look away from the horror before him; he was literally frozen with shock. It took him a few moments to snap out of it and contact his superiors.

"This is Raven. I've arrived at the scene. It's a goddamn massacre..."

 _"We have no information at this time on who could have done this. According to the Japanese news, it was a long range missile strike."_

"There doesn't seem to be any signs of a nuclear strike, thank God. It must have been long range ballistic missiles."

 _"Find whatever you can and send it to us, even the tiniest piece of shrapnel."_

"Roger."

Raven pulled out a set of high-tech binoculars and flew over the city, looking carefully at the ground with his advanced zooming feature. He scanned the ground for missile casings, making sure to look extra hard in the numerous craters.

 _Hmmm... all of these are in pieces. If I could just find a whole one..._

Finally, a miracle occurred. Out of the corner of Raven's eye, he spotted it laying in the sand: a missile that seemed to have failed to detonate!

"Holy... a dud?!"

Raven felt like jumping for joy as he descended upon the beach, ignoring the barricades and warning signs. He reached around his cockpit and pulled out a tiny camera used for reconnaissance. Looking both ways, he leaped from his jet and landed on the soft sand below. He looked down at the huge missile; sure enough, it was still intact.

 _I can't believe they haven't moved it yet. Raven, you are one lucky bastard._

Raven aimed the camera and quickly took many shots of the missile from numerous angles, making sure to get whatever names or serial numbers were on it. After taking a good number of pictures, Raven quickly switched on his earpiece.

"This is Raven. You won't believe what I found."

 _"You got something, I assume?"_

"I'm uploading the pictures now."

Raven quickly marked all of the pictures on the camera and hit the send button after inputting the proper coordinates.

Meanwhile, at Raven's headquarters, a loading bar appeared on all of the computers that were currently in use. The bar filled up more and more. 50%...85%...98%...

Finally a beep sounded and the message "UPLOAD COMPLETE" appeared in big letters.

"Roger, we have received the pictures now." Raven's cohort said into the microphone of his headset. He quickly zoomed in on the pictures, scrolling through them and observing the anatomy.

"Alright, I'm searching for information on the missile now. Stand by."

 _"Roger that."_ Raven responded.

Back on the beach, Raven was looking around frantically and staying low as possible. The thought of being spotted at any moment was quite tense and even a little thrilling.

 _"Alright, we've got it. The missile you're looking at is an RT-2PM2 Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile. It was developed just after the fall of the Soviet Union. You've got yourself a Russian missile, agent._

"Russians... but what could they gain by attacking Japan?"

 _"I don't know, but I don't like this one bit. Alright, you're on standby until we figure this out, but I want you to head for G Corp and the Mishima Zaibatsu and make sure things are secure there."_

"Roger that. What do I do with this thing?" Raven asked.

 _"Leave it. Chances are, the Japanese military will figure it out eventually. I only hope that war wont break out as a result of this."_

"Yeah, you and me both. Alright, I'm heading for-"

Raven suddenly stopped mid sentence.

 _"You still there? Raven, respond!"_

Raven couldn't tear his gaze from the horrific sight above: a group of large aircraft zoomed overhead and proceeded to drop bombs on the area. Screams erupted, but were drowned out by large explosions.

Raven was in shock, but he quickly got ahold of himself and activated his earpiece.

"HQ, this is Raven! The situation just got a hell of a lot worse."

 _"What? What's happening?"_

"A large group of bombers just flew over me, and they're dropping their payload all over the place. They could be heading for the capital, or worse, the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp!"

 _"Alright, take it easy. You're authorized to engage. Intercept and shoot them all down, regardless of circumstances!"_

"Roger that. Raven out!"

Raven quickly leaped back into the cockpit of his jet and took off at top speed to catch up with the bogeys. As he got closer, he started to get a good look at them: they were in a V formation and were flying quite fast for their size. Raven's only conclusion was that they were designed for stealth. But that was now irrelevant; they had to go down, and fast.

"Moving to engage targets!" Raven yelled aloud as he matched their altitude and began to tail the leftmost bomber. His guidance system activated, the beeping becoming more rapid as his missile acquired a lock. Finally, the reticles aligned and a rapid beeping occurred.

"Target acquired. Fox 2!" Raven yelled as he unleashed an AIM-120 AMRAAM that zoomed through the sky and struck the bomber directly, sending it plummeting to the ground below in a ball of fire.

"Target destruction confirmed!" Raven yelled. He yawed slightly to the right and fired another, dropping one more of the bombers. The remaining three bombers attempted to break off, but Raven quickly chased them down and they met similar fates. After dropping two more, there was one left.

"This one must be the leader. It's a different design than the others." Raven said to himself as he quickly closed distance between them. As he got in range, he suddenly realized he had fired the last of his missiles!

"Shit... guess I'll do this the hard way."

Raven chased down the high speed aircraft and started to pepper the back of it with huge 50 caliber bullets. It left numerous holes and caused the bomber to spiral out of control. Raven was sure he had gotten it when suddenly, large black fragments flew from the bomber and headed directly for him!

"Shit! The damn thing's stripping!" Raven was completely caught off guard and the fragments struck his aircraft head on, taking out one of his wings and cracking the cockpit. He fought to maintain control of his jet as it started to spiral out of control! The bomber, now stripped of it's top layer of armor, was now much faster and started to speed away. Raven was losing it; he had only one chance.

"This is Raven! I'm gonna stop this thing no matter what. Nice working with you!" Raven yelled to his earpiece, then leaped from his jet as it fell to the Earth with a boom. He was just close enough that he managed to pull out his blades ad stick them in the bomber's tail. He was now hanging from the bomber, his body flailing back and forth against the pounding wind. He used the blades to climb forward, struggling against the wind and the current speed of the aircraft.

 _I can't mess up. I make one wrong slip... it's over. I'm not gonna let it end like this! This isn't the end of my story!_

Raven willed his body forward as he made his way to the cockpit. After a debilitating climb, he finally reached it. Raising one arm, he yelled with everything in his lungs as he plunged the blade into the glass, leaving a huge crack. He raised his arm again and brought it down once more, widening the crack. This obviously got the pilot's attention, and he started undoing his seatbelt. But Raven didn't stop. He plunged his blade again. The crack got bigger. Bigger. Finally, with one last strike, the glass shattered, leaving the pilot wide open. Raven raised his blade for the kill, but he stopped immediately when he saw the pilot remove his helmet and stare directly into Raven's eyes.

 _No way..._

The man in the cockpit had medium length black hair, some of which was in a ponytail. But his most noticeable feature was his eyes, which were nearly devoid of any color. His scarred face was almost zombie-like as he looked at Raven with an expression as cold and emotionless as a corpse.

Raven's look of shock quickly turned into a furious scowl.

"DIE!" he yelled, raising his hand once again. The man quickly pulled a handgun and fired, shooting the blade from Raven's hand. He tried to aim for Raven's head, but Raven quickly grabbed the gun and pointed it upward as it went off three more times. Letting go of his other blade, Raven dived into the cockpit and started punching the man in the face with his free hand. The man freed his gun from Raven's grasp and smacked him in the face with the barrel, causing Raven to recoil instantly from the pain. He pointed the gun and tried to fire again, but Raven managed to slap his wrist upward at the last minute and the gun went off next to the man's ear, causing him to groan loudly and cup his ear at the deafening noise.

Raven took this opportunity to wrap his hands around the man's neck and squeeze as tightly as he could. His chokehold was quickly broken, however, when the man struck him in the jaw with two jabs. The man then picked up the gun and, turning it upside down, struck Raven across the temple with the handle. Turning the gun back upward, he prepared to fire one last time.

"No you don't!" Raven shouted as he grabbed the barrel and attempted to wrestle the gun once again. The pilot punched Raven in the face rapidly in an attempt to free his grip. Finally Raven hit the magazine release with his thumb and the clip slid out of the handgun and hit the floor. This distracted the pilot just long enough for Raven to snatch the gun from his hand and throw it out of the cockpit.

The pilot looked at him with a scowl and tried to pull a knife, but only managed to draw it halfway before Raven grabbed his hand and shoved it back into the sheath. Raven swung with his other hand, but the pilot caught his punch at the wrist. The two of them were now in a deadlock, Raven struggling to keep the man's knife sheathed, and the man struggling to hold Raven's wrist. The two of them wrestled for a few minutes before Raven finally just drew his head back and slammed it into the man's face, breaking his nose. Raven drew his head back once more, but the pilot swayed out of the way and Raven's head hit the metallic top of the seat. Pain instantly flooded through Raven's forehead as his vision started to blur.

The man let go of Raven's wrist and quickly hit the eject button. The remains of the cockpit flew open and the seat launched into the sky. To the man's surprise, however, Raven was still holding on!

"We're going together... old friend." Raven said with a twisted smile. The man frowned as he pushed Raven off and pulled the cord to his parachute. Raven clung to his legs and started to climb upwards as the two of them floated through the sky. As Raven reached his neck he started to punch the man in the face with everything he had left. The man sneered and grabbed one of Raven's arms, pulling it off of him. Raven was now hanging from the man's body by one hand. Raven struggled against the man's grip, but he slowly forced his hand back towards the man's face. Finally, once his hand was close enough, Raven stuck out two of his fingers and shoved them up the man's nostrils. He then bent his knuckles upward, pressing against and putting pressure on the man's broken nose.

"AAAAAAUUGH!" the man yelled with a wince as Raven pressed against his nose with all of his strength. But Raven had forgotten one thing: the knife! He was too late to realize as the man used his free hand to draw his combat knife and plunge it in Raven's side, earning a cry of pain that made the man smile sadistically. The pain made Raven weak and allowed the man to remove Raven's hands and drop him out of the sky. As Raven fell, he managed to grab onto the man's boot.

 _Just a little closer. Closer!_

The man grunted and started to kick Raven repeatedly. Raven was helpless to block, so he had to take the full force of the man's boot in his face. After a few kicks, Raven's lip had opened up and his nose was also pouring blood.

"GRAAAAH!" the man yelled as he threw a kick to Raven's eyebrow, causing a small cut. Blood started to seep into Raven's eye, forcing him to close it.

 _I can't... hold it... anymore..._

Raven was finally forced to let go; he couldn't take another kick. The man smiled as Raven plummeted to the Earth below. A few chuckles even escaped from his throat.

 **YEES! I had so so much fun with this one! I can hardly contain my own excitement, and I'm the one who wrote it! The action will only pick up next chapter as Raven and you-know-who finally hit the ground! I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am :)**

 **Next: Round 2!**


	24. Chapter 24: Grounded

**I'd like to give a special shoutout to dcbaij15, who not only favorited and followed, but left two reviews! Thanks a bunch, my friend!**

 **Don't calm down just yet. The action's about to pick up!**

Raven's heart started beating rapidly as he descended upon the Earth. He was falling, and falling fast.

 _Calm down, Raven. Calm down. Concentrate..._

Remembering his Ninjitsu training, he closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles to prepare for the landing. Finally he hit the ground, landing perfectly on his feet. He fell on his back and panted for a few moments. He was in serious pain and it was almost impossible for him to move right now. It took all of his power to raise his arm and put it to his earpiece.

"HQ... this is Raven."

 _"Are you okay? What the hell happened?!"_

"I destroyed the targets... but I met some unexpected opposition."

 _"What do you mean? Elaborate."_

"The man leading the bombing... was Sergei f***ing Dragunov."

 _"My God... if the Russians have sent him, they're not playing around. Where is he now?"_

"He's about to be six feet under." Raven said, switching off his earpiece. He got back to his feet and looked at the sky above. He spotted Dragunov in the distance, floating down slowly to the Earth. Raven quickly pulled the last weapon he had, his shuriken, and threw it with all of this might. The shuriken raced for Dragunov, who spotted it instantly and started to flail. The shuriken struck the parachute, slicing a huge hole in it and rendering the parachute useless. With a loud grunt, Dragunov fell to the ground with a thud.

Before he could make his way to his fallen nemesis, Raven had to bind his wound. He removed his signature black scarf and, after counting to 3, quickly pulled the knife out of his side. Raven screamed in agony and felt tears forming, but he concentrated and tied the scarf around his waist and pulled as tight as he could, effectively cutting off the circulation and stopping the bleeding.

With a smile, Raven slowly trudged towards where the parachute had landed. After a good three minute walk, Raven finally spotted Dragunov. He was rolling around, struggling to get his parachute undone. Finally after unhooking himself, he slowly rose to his feet, obviously in pain from the abrupt landing.

"Brought you a little present!" Raven yelled, holding up the combat knife soaked in his own blood. "But I think it'll look better with your blood on it!"

Dragunov said nothing, but gave a scoff as he got into stance. He couldn't help but smile at Raven's struggle to stay on his feet. This fight wouldn't last long.

Raven finally approached Dragunov and held the knife upward, getting into stance. The two of them locked eyes for a solid minute, neither of them so much as breathing.

"It's pretty funny." Raven said, breaking the silence. "We've been in this situation many times before, you and me. But it was on the training grounds of a military base. You always managed to disarm me." Raven half smiled as he spoke.

"Of course the one time you decided to use a knife against me, this happened." He pointed to the X shaped scar on his face.

"We trained and sparred together all of the time, but I never thought that one day we would have to use that training to fight each other to the death. I guess it's fate, though. You and me are living in two different worlds. Opposite sides of the coin."

Dragunov still said nothing, but gave the "come" gesture.

Raven's smile quickly faded.

"If you insist. But I'm not fooling around this time. You're not getting off with a mark to the face, and I don't expect to be treated any different. This is for real. Understand?"

Dragunov nodded and made another impatient gesture with his hand.

Raven raised the knife and slowly started to approach his opponent. Dragunov had his hands raised high, preparing to intercept the knife as soon as it flew towards him. After an intense staredown, Raven finally lunged forward, stabbing at Dragunov's face. Dragunov easily anticipated it however, and he used the palm of his hand to smack Raven's hand at the wrist, knocking his arm to the side. Dragunov then threw a palm with his other hand, striking Raven in the waist where the knife had punctured.

"AAAGH!" Raven winced as he hunched over. Dragunov raised both of his fists and attempted an overhead swing, but Raven raised his arms and blocked it. With both of Dragunov's arms up high, his stomach was wide open for Raven to deliver a headbutt to his gut. As Dragunov wheezed and hunched over, Raven quickly rose upward and his head connected with Dragunov's chin, knocking him on his back.

With a loud "hmph!" Dragunov rose back to his feet and raised his arms. Raven charged forward and swung the knife at Dragunov's face, but the soldier swayed back and forth and easily dodged the strikes. Raven then attempted a spinning strike, but Dragunov caught his wrist and, putting his leg around Raven's, swept the ninja off his feet and flipped him over his shoulder and to the ground. Still holding the wrist, Dragunov then clamped his leg around around Raven's arm and gave a tight squeeze, causing Raven to cry out in pain and drop the knife immediately. It was a textbook disarming.

Raven had to do something fast, or Dragunov would break his arm! Throwing both legs upward, Raven wrapped them around Dragunov's head and pulled forward with all of his might, flipping the soldier over his body and onto his back.

 _Now I've got you!_

Raven quickly clamped his legs around Dragunov's neck and sat up in an indian position. He squeezed with all of his might in an attempt to strangle him. Dragunov was clearly losing breath as he began to gasp. He remained calm however, and quickly put his hands behind Raven's head and pulled, bending his head forward and putting pressure on his neck and back. But Raven was persistent, and Dragunov slowly felt himself slipping away. Suddenly he remembered: the knife wound! Dragunov balled his right hand into a fist and extended the knuckle of his forefinger slightly for more pain. He then drove his fist into Raven's side, the pain immediately flooding and forcing Raven to let go.

"AGH! BASTARD!" Raven yelled as he rolled over and clenched his side in pain. Now free from Raven's grasp, Dragunov was also on the ground gasping as the air refilled his lungs. The two of them laid there for a second, neither of them even able to get up at the moment. They finally managed to get to their feet before getting back into stance, staring at each other intensely.

"You put up a hell of a fight, just as I expected." Raven said, to which Dragunov grunted in response.

"But our sparring days are over. I've learned a lot since our time together. I've mastered the art of Ninjitsu, and I've practiced to counter your Sambo moves. You may have the hand to hand skills of an elite soldier, but Ninjitsu can't be found in any textbook. Now come at me!"

Dragunov nodded and rushed forward, throwing openhanded strikes at Raven's face with his fingers pointed forward.

 _He's trying to gouge me..._

Raven parried a few more strikes then spun around and drove his elbow downward into Dragunov's calf. Raven then sprung back to his feet, flinging his hands upward and smacking Dragunov in the chin with closed fists. Dragunov staggered backwards a bit; this was Raven's chance!

Raven threw a roundhouse aimed at Dragunov's head, but Dragunov caught his leg and prepared for another painful submission. Driving his other foot into Raven's calf and staggering him, Dragunov fell forward and his body weight brought Raven to the ground. He then quickly turned around, his back facing Raven, and clamped his legs around Raven's and pulled back as hard as he could with both hands.

The pain shot through Raven's leg almost instantly. He hissed and attempted to wrestle free of Dragunov's grasp, but to no avail. Finally Raven found an opening: he had left his broken nose wide open! With an evil smile Raven put both of his hands above Dragunov's mouth and, using both thumbs, proceeded to pull backwards on Dragunov's nostrils.

"AAAAAGH!" Dragunov yelled as he let go of Raven's leg and rolled to a safe distance. As Dragunov clutched his nose in pain, Raven slowly rose to his feet. Pain was shooting through him after getting his limbs pulled and stretched.

 _It feels like my tendons are torn completely. I've gotta end this._

Raven charged forward with all of his might and struck Dragunov with a left hook, then spun around and smacked him a second time with a backhand. He then threw a kick to Dragunov's shin and finished the combo with a rising knee to the chest. Dragunov stumbled, but quickly shook off the pain. Raven came forward with another swing, but Dragunov ducked and slammed his fist into Raven's wounded area, then as Raven hunched forward in pain, Dragunov sent him backwards with an uppercut.

Raven fell to the ground, but quickly sprung back to his feet with a backwards flip. He charged forward with a jump kick, but Dragunov rolled to the side and Raven hit nothing but air. The two closed distance once more. Raven threw a spinning kick, but Dragunov dropped to the ground on all fours as if crawling through the dirt. He then sprung forward using his back feet and tackled Raven to the ground by his legs. Quickly rising to his feet, Dragunov spread Raven's legs like a V and dropped himself onto Raven's groin with his knee extended. As Raven cried out in pain, Dragunov rolled backwards and sprung to his feet.

 _God damn it! I was hoping that would never happen again after Nina! Alright, you son of a... now you're really going to pay!_

Raven quickly sprung back to his feet. He paused for a moment to breathe heavily, Dragunov doing the same. Raven took this time to go through possible scenarios in his head.

 _I'm too weak to do any teleportation, and if I charge head on he'll just put me in another compromising position. The only advantage I have right now is his broken nose..._

Dragunov's eyes were locked on his; a look not of hatred, not of sadness, but of pure indifference. He was truly emotionless. He squinted his eyes to observe Raven's injuries: aside from the knife wound, his face was pretty messed up. He noticed that Raven seemed to be rubbing his eye frequently; the same eye that was cut from his kick. Aside from that, the man had no other noticeable exploits. Dragunov scoffed and put his hands back up, indicating that he was ready to fight.

Raven acknowledged this by raising his own fists as well.

"You seem to be getting tired." Raven taunted, but to no avail. Dragunov kept his same emotionless face.

"Why do you always have to look like a f***ing zombie?"

Still no response.

"You sure are a chatterbox, you know that? Even back then, you used to talk my ear off."

Dragunov rolled his eyes and made a "come" gesture.

"Here I come." Raven said as he rushed in for another onslaught. He raised his fists upwards, and Dragunov quickly anticipated that he was aiming for his nose. But as Raven got closer, he spun around as if to perform a spinning backfist. Dragunov started to duck, but Raven only spun halfway. A fakeout!

Dragunov hissed as Raven turned back around and drove his forearm into the soldier's nose. The pain would have brought tears to anyone else, but Dragunov wasn't capable of crying. Deciding to try a fakeout of his own, Dragunov covered his face and groaned loudly. Truthfully, he didn't have to act, as the pain was all too real.

Raven rushed in and prepared to swing again, unaware that Dragunov was acting. It was too late; Raven's fist was caught and his arm was quickly clutched with both hands.

 _Shit! He's got me..._

Dragunov lifted his leg high and draped it over Raven's arm. He then rolled forward, his strength and momentum bringing Raven to the ground. They were now back on the ground, Dragunov's legs crushing Raven's arm as he continued to hold his wrist. The pain only increased tenfold as Dragunov tightened his grip and pulled back on Raven's wrist with both hands. A cracking of bone was heard; he had finally done it! Raven's scream only added to the confirmation; his arm was now broken.

Raven slowly felt himself losing consciousness. The pain was too much for him to bear.

 _He'll... tear my arm off... at this rate... I've gotta... teleport... it's the only... WAY!_

Mustering up all of his willpower, Raven closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring the searing pain of his arm being pulled. It took him a moment, but finally he pulled it off! Disappearing in a flash, Raven quickly backflipped through the air to distance himself before landing a few yards from his opponent. Dragunov scowled and rose to his feet. The two froze for a moment and exchanged a look of hostility before Raven decided to do the only logical thing. Turning around, he sprinted off into the distance.

 _You may have gotten me this time, but don't take this retreat as a victory. This has been a long time coming for you and me. As long as you're here, I'll hunt you... and kill you._

Dragunov watched as his nemesis disappeared from view. Dusting himself off, he went to go retrieve his knife. He picked it up and took a moment to look at the blood on it. A sick grin spread across his face as he wiped the blood off and sheathed his weapon. He then pulled out a tiny transmitter and pressed it, activating a loud beeping. He then sat down awaited his pickup.

Raven ran as fast as he could, desperately looking to get back to civilization. He considered answering his earpiece, but decided against it. As he made his way across a nearby forest, he could feel his wound reopening. Cursing, he picked up his speed. It was no use, however. The pain was getting more and more intense, and Raven suddenly felt himself getting dizzier and dizzier. He took one more step before falling to the ground unconscious.

 **Whew! Go ahead and take a moment to collect yourselves. I hope you enjoyed what is probably the best fight scene of this entire fic, though I understand if it wasn't up to par. I wanted to make Dragunov do some REALLY painful things, but admittedly I'm not very good at describing submissions. But if I didn't do half bad, let me know and it'll give me a nice confidence boost for the next bout!**

 **Next: A break from the action as Raven gets his wounds treated by none other than... the next guest character in this fic :)**


	25. Chapter 25: Another Recovery

**This chapter features more Raven therapy. He's such a wise man :)**

"Hey, are you okay?"

Raven felt a rush of coolness and he immediately opened his eyes and shot upward.

"Hey! I asked you a question!"

He looked around for the source of the female voice. Finally his eyesight returned and he saw her: there, in front of him, was a red haired person dressed in purple and holding an empty bucket. He assumed she was female since he couldn't see her face behind her white fox mask.

"Who... are you...?" Raven groaned. The woman dropped the bucket and put her hands to her hips.

"I should ask you that. I looked through your wallet, and you have no ID!" When Raven heard that, he jumped to his feet.

"You took my wallet?!"

"Hey, back up!" she yelled, drawing a large kunai. "You passed out in my forest, so as payment for saving your life I decided to relieve you of whatever you had on you. Which wasn't much anyway. So why don't you come with me and I'll get that arm fixed? If you're a good boy I might even treat your stab wound."

Raven hunched over for a second and put a hand to his stab wound.

 _I'm in pretty bad shape. I can't refuse her..._

Finally he picked himself up and looked at his rescuer.

"Why would you help me?" he asked.

"Look pal, I took your money so at the very least I won't let you die here. So shut up and follow me."

She grabbed his hand and walked onward, nearly dragging him.

"I'm Kunimitsu, by the way."

"Kuni...mitsu? Are you related to Yoshimitsu?" Raven asked.

"No, but I was his number two. Then... hey, I'm not talking about my personal life!" The two of them were silent for the rest of the walk.

After a good five minute walk, Kunimitsu finally dragged Raven to a small wooden hut in the middle of the forest.

"This is my humble abode." she told him. "Nobody bothers me here, so we'll be alone."

She opened her door and carried Raven to her bedroom. Raven was mesmerized by all of the treasures within her home: gold, jewels, expensive weaponry... the woman was either a thief or just loaded!

They finally made it to the bedroom and Kunimitsu threw Raven onto her bed and forcefully removed his shirt.

"H-hey, wait!" Raven yelled.

"Quiet!" she commanded. "I don't want you here any longer than necessary, so I'm getting this done fast!" She then walked off, leaving Raven to ponder his fate. As he laid there, he remembered the humiliating defeat he had just suffered at the hands of Sergei Dragunov.

 _Bastard... you won't get me next time._

As he contemplated slapping himself for his weakness, he didn't notice Kunimitsu had walked back in with alcohol and bandages.

"I suggest you grit your teeth." she said before pouring the alcohol onto Raven's wound. Raven hissed at the sharp stinging sensation that shot through him. The pain got even worse when Kunimitsu started scrubbing the wound furiously with a rag.

"There, that should be nice and clean. Now sit up."

Raven obeyed as Kuni started to forcefully wrap the bandage around his torso. She then tied it so tight that Raven felt his breath leaving his body.

"Now for the arm!" Kuni said in an unnaturally cheery voice. Without warning she grabbed Raven's arm and straightened it out, earning a cry of pain from the poor ninja. She wrapped the arm in bandages until it was completely mummified. By the time she was done, Raven's arm felt like an Anaconda had wrapped around it.

"Aaaand the final touch!" she exclaimed. She pulled out a tiny bandage and slapped it on Raven's eyebrow. Raven stood up and looked at himself in the mirror.

 _Well Raven, you've definitely seen better days._

"Okay, all done." Kunimitsu said with a sigh. "Now get out, and don't tell anybody about this place if you value your life."

"Wait. You really expect me to make it like this? I have an important assignment!"

"What the hell do you want me to do?"

"Just let me stay for one night...please."

Kuni turned around and looked at the ceiling in annoyance. Finally she turned around and let out a sigh.

"Fine, whatever. But this is the only bed, so you get the couch. And just a word of warning; if you touch even one shiny thing in this house, I'll cut off your fingers one by one."

"I'm grateful." Raven said with a bow.

The two of them sat on the couch in complete silence. Raven was completely bored; she didn't have a TV or even a radio! Kunimitsu seemed to be entertained; she just drank sake and played with her kunai.

"So... what do you do for entertainment?" Raven finally asked.

"I get drunk and contemplate killing Yoshimitsu." she said with a smile. "Either that, or I go and steal some stuff."

"So that's how you got these expensive items..."

"Well duh! I'm living in the middle of the forest, do I really look like I'm wealthy?" Raven could hear her slurring her words a little.

"It's all stupid Yoshimitsu's fault!" she suddenly yelled. "All he did was steal steal steal, but he just gave it away to everybody! Just because I wanted to keep a little for myself, he had to mark me for death and..."

She suddenly fell onto Raven's lap and started wailing loudly. Raven didn't know what to do, so he just raised his arms and didn't touch her out of fear of retaliation.

"You don't know what it's like... living with a sword at your throat!" she sobbed. " I could sell all this shit. I could come out of hiding, go live in the big city and live a comfortable life! But then he'd just find me and..."

She continued to wail loudly. Raven thought for a second; she did save his life, so the least he could do was try to be a voice of reassurance.

"Well actually, I do know what it's like. You don't know what I do for a living, and I'm not gonna tell you. But I make a lot of enemies in my line of work, and it's made me paranoid as well. It's just something that you have to... desensitize yourself to. You have to believe in your own skills; believe that you can overcome any obstacle. Then... the fear just kind of wears off."

She looked up at Raven, tears running down her mask.

"But Yoshimitsu is so tough. I could never beat him. How can I not be afraid?"

"You just have to believe it'll all work out. Sometimes faith is the only reassurance you can have."

Just in case his words didn't work, Raven decided to try something new. He knelt down and put his mouth to her ear.

"Look, I've met with Yoshimitsu recently, and he's not in good shape. He's gone insane after Bryan Fury killed some of his people, and now killing Bryan is all he ever talks about. There's a good chance he's forgotten all about you."

Kuni sat back up and lifted her mask slightly to wipe her eyes.

"R-really?"

"Yes. I suggest you forget all about Yoshimitsu and start thinking of yourself for once. Do you really want to keep living like this? Eventually you'll get caught and there will be a warrant for your arrest. I suggest you sell this stuff to a black market and use the funds to move somewhere different. Get rid of the mask and change your name. Maybe even find a job that you like."

Kunimitsu sat in silence for a few minutes, pondering everything that had been said. Finally she turned to Raven.

"Well... I've always wanted to be a... repair-woman."

"That's a good, honest living." Raven said with a smile. "Now you just have to make it happen. Stop living your life worrying about others, and start shaping your own future."

A smile formed across Kunimitsu's lips. "You know what? You're right! I can't just spend my life hiding here! I'm going to make something of myself! But..."

Her smile suddenly faded and she removed her mask, turning to face Raven. Raven's eyes widened when he saw just what she had been hiding: two huge scars than ran down her face.

"Just look at me. How could I go out in public looking like this?" She asked. Tears started to form in her eyes once again.

 _Oh shit! Don't cry again..._

"Don't be silly." Raven said, putting a hand on her chin. "I think you look beautiful."

Kuni wiped her eyes and looked at Raven with a smile. "I'm going to steal one last thing. What do you want to eat?"

"Whatever you bring back." Raven said, grinning back.

"No complaining then!" she said in a singsong voice as she sprinted out of the house.

"Whew... well at least I got on her good side." Raven said with a sigh as he plopped down onto the couch. He decided he finally needed to report on his failure, so he put his hand to his earpiece and, taking a deep breath, made his report.

"This is Raven. HQ, please respond."

 _"Thank God you're still alive! We may have a problem!"_

"I'm sorry sir, but I failed to eliminate the target."

 _"Oh we know, trust me. He just joined up with a naval fleet in the Sea of Japan about five hours ago."_

"Naval... fleet?"

 _"Maybe you'd better listen to this prerecorded message from the Prime Minister of Russia."_

Raven waited in anticipation as his superior prepared to relay the message. Finally, after a couple of static noises, the message began to play.

 _"WE HAVE BEEN HUMILIATED, SHAMED, AND DISGRACED BY JAPAN'S TREACHEROUS ACTS. DUE TO THE INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS BY THE TEKKEN FORCE, CHAOS AND DISARRAY HAVE PLAGUED OUR PROUD COUNTRY. UNTIL THE MISHIMA ZAIBATSU ANSWERS FOR IT'S BARBARIC ACTIONS, WE REFUSE TO LAY DOWN OUR ARMS. JAPAN WILL FEEL THE FULL FORCE OF OUR VENGEANCE!"_

 _"Sergei Dragunov has been hailed as a hero for his efforts in Japan, and as such he's been appointed General and is now in charge of all military operations. We have reason to believe he was the one behind the bombing of Kamakura as well."_

"My God... I should have known they wouldn't take Jin's attacks sitting down. If Russia invades, they'll tear the country apart!"

 _"Roger that. Ever since Jin's disappearance they've been rebuilding their military might. All we could do was pray that they wouldn't seek retribution for what that madman did to the world. Unfortunately, hoping and praying just wasn't enough."_

"Right. What are my orders?"

 _"One of our operatives has already contacted the Prime Minister and warned him of the consequences of his invasion. If he refuses to call off this vendetta, you are to find and eliminate Sergei Dragunov immediately. Hopefully this will deal a crushing blow to Russia's morale and the Prime Minister will reconsider going to war."_

"How much time do I have?"

 _"Right now the invasion fleet is sitting idle. You have until the shells start flying to prepare yourself. If they so much as squeeze off a shot, all bets are off! Find Dragunov and kill him, and more importantly, don't waste any time!"_

"Roger that, but I'll need a full loadout and a new jump jet."

 _"Jesus, Raven. You're going to bankrupt us one day. Alright, what are your coordinates?"_

"Where is the bulk of the invasion fleet?"

 _"The city of Otaru in the Hokkaido region. If Russia attacks, that'll be the first place they land."_

"Then send my supplies there. I'll be waiting."

 _"You can't afford to mess up this time, Raven. You have to finish the job."_

"I know."

Raven clicked off his earpiece and took a deep breath.

 _Whew... back in the fray again, eh Raven? Maybe this'll be the one I don't walk away from..._

"Hey, I'm back!" Kunimitsu said, cheerily. She was carrying two bowls of ramen wrapped in plastic.

"It's really cold now, but that's okay! I'll just make a fire!"

The two of them sat outside and chatted while heating up their ramen over an open fire. Only it wasn't much of a chat; Kunimitsu pestered Raven the whole time to tell her something about himself, but he refused for the most part.

"Can't you at least tell me your name?" Kunimitsu whined. Raven finally let out a sigh.

"My codename is Raven. That's all you're allowed to know."

"Raven? That's so cool! Are you a secret agent?"

"I'm a ninja, just like you. That's all."

"How'd you get hurt?"

"That's classified."

"Did you try to assassinate somebody and get caught?"

"No."

"How do you know Yoshimitsu?"

"He saved me."

"Sheesh, how much do you get hurt?"

"I get hurt all of the time. Most of the time, I don't have the luxury of being saved by somebody."

"Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course I do."

"You know, you can totally sleep with me in my bed tonight."

"I would love to, but I need to recover in solitude. It's nothing against you, honestly."

After ten more minutes of half-answering questions and refusing Kunimitsu's passes, Raven finished his food and with a nod of thanks, went inside and collapsed on the couch. He was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning came quicker than Raven had wished. He groaned loudly and rose to his feet. His knife wound didn't hurt as bad, but his left arm was still throbbing with pain. He began to wonder just how he could take on Dragunov without it.

"Oh, hey..." Kunimitsu said with a yawn as she stepped out of her room. "You leaving already?"

"I have a bit of a trip to take. I need to get a head start." Raven stretched a bit before turning to Kunimitsu and extending his hand.

"I can never repay you for saving my life."

"Heh... well you already did. Remember?" Kunimitsu said with a mischievous smirk. Raven rolled his eyes and she grabbed his hand, shaking it. As he turned to leave, Kunimitsu grabbed his hand again.

"Wait! Before you go I have a little present for you. I noticed you lost whatever weapons you had in your two scabbards. Wait here!"

She ran to her room and Raven heard her digging around a bit. Finally she emerged, carrying a pair of Kodachi in leather sheaths.

"How about these? Are they too long for you? Too short?"

Raven removed his sheaths and put on the two that Kunimitsu presented him with. Getting into stance, he quickly drew one of them.

"Hmm... the blade is almost as long as my old ones, but slightly longer." he said, observing the sword up close. Smiling, he sheathed the weapon and turned to Kunimitsu.

"They're perfect."

"Great!" Kunimitsu said with a smile. "You can have them! All this junk is getting sold anyway."

Raven thanked her once more and left the house, Kunimitsu waving with a smile.

 _Here's hoping things work out, Kuni. For both of us._

 **The action picks back up next chapter as Raven goes to Otaru to stop a war before it begins! But can he stop his hated enemy Dragunov in his condition? I doubt it. I mean come on, he's got ONE arm!**

 **Reviews are appreciated. To those of you who leave a review, just imagine my arms coming through your computer screen and hugging you.**


	26. Chapter 26: Search and Destroy

**Whew... this chapter is a long one! Actually, it's THE longest one. Typing this was exhausting. I hope some parts don't seem rushed, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Oh and warning: this chapter features glorious nonstop action. Enjoy the epicness and make sure you're sitting down!**

It was a long, tiring trip to the coast of Otaru. With no immediate means of transportation, Raven was forced into running and hitchhiking. With the added time of him resting and the attempts to find generous passing drivers, it took Raven nearly a whole day to get there. After finally arriving, Raven squinted his eyes and look out into the vast Sea of Japan to see just what he was up against; sure enough, there was an entire armada of Russian warships.

 _Holy... it's a sea of steel._

Raven took a good look around the coastline: it was heavily reinforced by Tekken Force tanks and huge flak guns. The city itself was almost completely evacuated and was now occupied by the Tekken Force. It seemed that Heihachi wasted no time in taking advantage of the Russian fleet's hesitation.

"This is, Raven. I've finally arrived." Raven said to his earpiece.

 _"Good. Head to the far side of the coast and you'll find your supplies there. We remotely activated the stealth capabilities of the aircraft, so no one should have discovered it. We're deactivating it right now."_

"Roger. Thanks a bunch. I'll try not to wreck this one."

 _"What's the status of the invasion fleet?"_

"It's still just sitting there. Sounds like you guys were more intimidating than you thought. What did you tell the Prime Minister anyway?"

 _"We tapped into his radio and told him we have people within his highest ranks that will take action if he doesn't call off his troops. Heh, I bet he's too paranoid to even close his eyes at night."_

"Let me guess. That's supposed to be me, right?"

 _"As long as you kill Sergei Dragunov, our threat has real meaning. The Prime Minister will know we were serious and he'll do the logical thing."_

"Or killing the hero of Russia will only fuel their flames."

 _"Speculation will only slow you down. Resume your mission!"_

"Roger."

Raven made his way to the designated pickup point, and there it was: a brand new jump jet with a full loadout. He looked inside, hoping that HQ sent him some goodies. To his delight, there were two new shuriken, six throwing knives armed with explosives and five slightly larger kunai that weren't, a pair of reinforced leather gauntlets with protruding steel teeth designed to stop a knife, a black Kevlar vest and ninja mask, and finally, a pair of sunglasses programmed with three different types of vision.

"Perfect for when I have to fly into a sea of bullets..." Raven said, rolling his eyes. He removed his one ninja gauntlet and put on the new one, balling his hand a few times to get a feel for it. He then removed his sunglasses and put on the new pair, testing the three types of vision: normal, night, and thermal. Finally he put on the black ninja mask and pocketed his throwing knives and shuriken. He was ready to fight a war, alone if he had to.

"Let's get a better view of the armada." he told himself as he hopped onto a building and switched on his night vision. He looked out into the distance and saw the huge, hulking beasts all lined up. He noticed one ship in the middle that seemed to be slightly bigger than the rest.

"That must be the flagship. Dragunov's on there..." he whispered. He switched back to normal view and looked around for a clock; it was 30 minutes until midnight.

"Well, there's no way I'm gonna sleep tonight when shells could start dropping any minute." Raven told himself. Deciding to meditate for a while, he went down to the coast where his jet was and activated the stealth field, effectively camouflaging it. He then sat down in an indian position and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. The sea air was quite refreshing, and the climate was nice and cool. It would be hard not to fall asleep.

For the next hour, Raven didn't move once. He kept his eyes closed and breathed in all of his troubles and burdens. He thought of what he had to do soon. He thought of Dragunov, his hated rival, and the fight that would take place that he couldn't lose no matter what. He even thought of a time when the two of them weren't enemies; they were comrades in arms just trying to stop a civil war before the fall of the Soviet Union. He thought of the day that their friendship no longer had meaning; the day Dragunov chose to be a soldier and follow orders over being a friend. The day that Raven swore never to take another mission in Russia.

 _Come on Raven, you're losing it! Let go of those feelings... let your mind become free. You're a soldier, a machine; you do what has to be done and you don't dwell on it. The mission is all that matters. Dragunov... you're dead!_

The silence was suddenly broken by several loud cracks. Raven's eyes shot open immediately. Was that...?

His suspicion was confirmed when the coastline suddenly erupted with a loud BOOM!

"OH SHIT! IT'S HAPPENING!" a Tekken Force soldier yelled. All the tanks and cannons on the coast began to fire immediately, covering the sea in a firework show of artillery explosions.

"This is Raven! It's started!" Raven yelled to his earpiece.

 _"Roger that. Commence the operation! Find the commander Sergei Dragunov and eliminate him! Hurry before the city is turned to rubble!"_

Not even giving a 'roger that', Raven hopped into his jet and fired up the controls. After a second of warmup, he finally shot into the sky and flew right towards the line of steel that threatened to invade Japan.

 _Raven, this is the craziest f***ing thing they've made you do yet!_

It took all of Raven's maneuvering skills to dodge the hail of explosions around him. Slowly but surely, he made his way towards the hulking flagship of the armada. Not wanting to waste any ammo, he didn't fire a shot.

As he got closer, he noticed a familiar figure standing on the ship's deck.

 _Could that really be...?_

The man was dressed in a long dark gray fur coat with a matching military uniform and boots. He was wearing a commanding officer's hat of the same color, but with gold engravings. He was wearing a four star insignia on his shoulders. But the one thing that was a dead giveaway was the small bandage over the bridge of his nose. That was all of the proof Raven needed.

"You've got some balls..." Raven hissed as he unloaded on Dragunov with the machine guns. Dragunov's face was unflinching as he quickly turned and ran sideways, a trail of bullets following him.

"Take this, asshole!" Raven yelled, firing two missiles at him. Dragunov quickly leaped and rolled and the missiles zoomed past him and impacted on the deck. The resulting blast sent him tumbling, but for the most part he had evaded them.

Raven was so fixated on shooting Dragunov that he had forgotten he was flying around in a sea of artillery. He quickly focused and swerved out of the way of the oncoming explosions, looking for a place to land. But he had taken his eyes off of Dragunov, and now it was going to cost him.

"What the?" Raven yelled as the missile alert starting going crazy. He didn't even have time to ascertain the missile's whereabouts before it struck his right wing, destroying it completely.

"God damn it! Third one!" Raven cursed as he was forced to leap from the jet and land on the deck the hard way. His aircraft hit the helm of the ship with a fiery explosion.

"Dragunooov! Show yourself!" Raven yelled. But Dragunov had vanished, leaving behind nothing but the SAM he had shot Raven down with. In his place a platoon of well dressed soldiers came to the deck, armed with AK-74M assault rifles. Before they could squeeze off a shot, Raven quickly threw two of his explosive knives. The impact of the knife on the deck activated its explosive and, after a few rapid beeps, the devices detonated and killed them all instantly.

 _Those must be his personal guard. I'll have to be careful..._

Raven carefully made his way below into the interior of the ship, assuming that was where Dragunov had went. As he walked through the hallways, the lights suddenly all shut off at once.

 _He knows I'm here._

Raven switched to night vision and treaded carefully, a kunai in his hand. The sounds of battle had become muffled in the interior of the large ship, and soon Raven's breathing was the loudest noise. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek as he looked around frantically for any signs of life. He could feel his throat drying up; he couldn't even close his mouth.

Suddenly a screaming soldier came out of nowhere armed with a large knife. His senses sharper than knives, Raven quickly turned and threw his kunai into the man's chest, felling him instantly. He treaded more cautiously than before; they certainly knew he was here NOW. As he neared a corner, a grenade bounced about five feet in front of him! Raven quickly rolled forward, snatching the grenade and tossing it as he leaped to his feet. After the explosion, he looked around the corner: four dead bodies.

 _Looks like they've all got night vision goggles. I'll have to be careful._

"Whew..." Raven sighed as he walked down the hallway. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his foot! He looked down at the ground; a still alive soldier had drawn his sidearm and was pointing it at Raven's head. Raven quickly kicked the gun from his hand and drove his foot into the man's throat, killing him instantly.

As Raven neared a door, there was one guard in front of it. He was armed.

 _Too easy._

"Hey, dickhead." Raven said loudly. The soldier turned and unloaded frantically down the corridor. He cursed and quickly ran down the hall, unaware that Raven was waiting on the other side. As he rounded the corner, Raven grabbed his head and slammed it against the metal interior. He then threw the disoriented soldier's gun to the ground and, after kneeing him in the gut, turned him around and wrapped his one good arm around his neck.

He walked slowly towards the door, the soldier still in a headlock.

"Open it." Raven commanded. The soldier swung open the door and screamed frantically,

"SHOOT! SHOOT HIM!"

Raven quickly took cover behind the wall as a hail of bullets flew in his direction. Releasing the soldier from his grip, Raven slammed his head one more time and then, pulling out an explosive knife, plunged it into the man's neck hard enough to trigger the explosive. As it beeped rapidly, Raven shoved the man into the room and quickly shut the door. He waited five seconds after the explosion before walking into the room.

"Looks like this leads to the lower level..." Raven muttered as he stepped over the corpses.

As he walked down the hallways, he drew one of his explosive knives. He neared a corner and poked his head out: six men armed with assault rifles. Raven whistled loudly and made sure they at least saw his face. As they approached the corner Raven threw a knife right where they would have to turn. As they rounded the corner the knife detonated, killing all of them.

Raven was really getting tired now, and he was sick of having to look at everything green. He turned off the night vision and massaged his eyes for a second. It wasn't so much the physical activity that had fatigued him; it was the stress of being on edge that was exhausting. Raven took a few deep breaths when suddenly he heard two clanging noises. Grenades?!

The clanging was followed by a hissing noise. Smoke grenades!

Raven quickly switched to thermal vision and got low to the ground. He looked in front of him: several bright yellow heat signatures were converging on him. Suddenly a door swung open from behind. More soldiers flooded from the rear!

Raven cursed as he was sandwiched between two groups of soldiers. He drew his last two knives; it was now or never. He quickly threw them down the hallways and leaped to the ceiling as they exploded, killing many of the soldiers on both sides. The ones that were still alive spotted Raven and started firing at the ceiling frantically. Raven cursed and quickly leaped from the ceiling, drawing and throwing three kunai which hit their marks with lethality. As Raven hit the floor, he rolled forward and sprung to his feet. He jumped on a soldier's back and threw his last kunai into the neck of the one across from him.

"Son of a... get off- AAUGH!"

The soldier was unloaded on by his own men as Raven leaped off of the man's back and charged forward, leaping from the walls for extra speed and evasion. He drew his kodachi and slashed one soldier's neck open, then leaped onto another soldier and drove the blade downward through his head, killing him instantly. One man approached from behind and tried to hit him with the rifle butt but Raven quickly parried the gun with his blade and drove it through the man's eye, penetrating his brain.

"What the f***? This guy isn't human!" a soldier yelled before getting cut down by Raven. Three more soldiers fired their weapons crazily in all directions in a vain attempt to shoot the lightning fast ninja.

 _Soldier 101... never lose your cool._

Raven appeared in thin air and slashed the neck of one of them. As he hit the ground, he drove his blade into another's stomach, kicking him into the third guy who fell to the ground. Raven then leaped forward and placed his feet on both sides of the solider's neck. With a hard twist, he broke the soldier's neck.

As Raven turned back around two bullets struck him in the chest, dropping him to the ground with a wheeze. Raven's instincts kicked in instantly and he threw his shuriken, which raced through the smoke. A yell was heard and then a thud, indicating that the shuriken hit its mark. Finally the smoke cleared, and Raven found himself surrounded by corpses. He didn't have time to marvel at his work; he was too busy wheezing and groaning.

"God damn it, if only these vests could stop pain..." Raven grunted as he slowly got to his feet. He switched back to night vision, turning everything green once more. He made his way to the next level, fighting his way past a few soldiers along the way.

"Okay, Raven. Let's go deeper..." Raven whispered as he looked around cautiously. It had fallen silent again, the only sound Raven's breathing. With his blade drawn, Raven slowly crept through the corridors. Suddenly, a door swung open right in front of him! Raven leaped to the ceiling as five soldiers walked out, laughing and drinking.

 _What the hell? Do they even realize what's going on? The Russians are arrogant bastards..._

With a smirk, Raven leaped from the ceiling and came down on one of the soldiers, stabbing his neck. The other four soldiers turned around instantly. Raven pulled the blade out and slashed the throat of two soldiers at once. He then disappeared from sight.

"Show yourself!" one of the two soldiers yelled. They were standing back to back, pointing their weapons in all directions. A shuriken flew from out of nowhere and struck one of them in the neck before Raven landed on the other one's head. He then wrapped his legs around the soldiers neck and gave a hard twist, killing him instantly.

Raven panted loudly; he had been killing soldiers for nearly 30 minutes. Figuring he had to be close to Dragunov's office, he continued onward and ignored his fatigue. He was dreading having to fight more soldiers when suddenly, the interior shook violently! Raven was thrown to the ground as the place shook like an earthquake.

 _The ship must have taken a hit!_

Suddenly the alarms started flashing and wailing, turning the dark ship a bright red color and forcing Raven to remove his night vision. Suddenly, a loud voice started broadcasting.

 _"ATTENTION! WE HAVE TAKEN A DIRECT HIT! ATTENTION! WE HAVE TAKEN A DIRECT HIT! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT, ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!"_

 _Great, that's going to make my job easier. I hope..._

Raven decided to take advantage of the confusion to go and find Dragunov. He quickly sprinted through the hallways and went lower and lower, managing to avoid most of the personnel that were retreating to the higher levels.

 _Alright, Dragunov. If I have to, I'll drag you to the bottom of the sea with me._

Raven made his way past the hallways until he came across a group of well dressed soldiers. They were in a circle, and they seemed to be escorting a very important someone in the middle. When they looked up and saw Raven, the man in the middle immediately pointed and gave a furious scowl.

 _Bingo._

Raven raced forward and slashed his way through the armed men. As he looked up, Dragunov was running in the opposite direction. He had removed his hat and coat while he retreated.

 _He's not running away. He's luring me..._

Raven decided he had to take the bait and ran after him. As he ran he made himself lighter by removing his Kevlar vest. As he went deeper and deeper, water started to seep in and cover his feet. The ship was sinking fast.

"SERGEI!" Raven bellowed as he made his way to what looked like a mess hall. But it was now an empty, wide open room; Dragunov had moved all of the tables, leaving no obstacles for the two of them.

"So this is where you've chosen to die." Raven said as he raised his blade and approached Dragunov. Dragunov kept his same emotionless face as he drew his combat knife. He then looked and noticed Raven's wrapped up arm.

"I don't need it to deal with the likes of you." Raven said, noticing Dragunov looking at it. What Dragunov did next surprised him; he kept his blade pointed with his right hand, but his left hand went behind his back.

"Are you pitying me?" Raven asked. "Or are you just stupid? No matter. You wanna give yourself a handicap, that'll make my job easier!"

With a battle cry, Raven lunged forward and his blade collided with Dragunov's. The two of them held that position for a second before breaking off. Raven swung his blade horizontally but Dragunov parried it with his knife, shoving Raven's arm sideways before lunging forward and thrusting. Raven twisted his body to evade the stab. The two of them circled each other, both with only one arm raised. Dragunov switched to reverse grip and charged forward with an overhead stab. Raven blocked the swing with his wrist and delivered a hard kick to Dragunov's stomach.

"Try and stab me again. I dare you!" Raven coaxed. Dragunov kept his same cold face as he charged forward and performed a spinning strike. Raven raised his arm and blocked the blade of the knife, catching it within the steel teeth of his gauntlet. With a twist, the knife flew from Dragunov's hand and far out of reach.

"Looks like I disarmed you this time." Raven said with a smirk. A slight grimace appeared on Dragunov's face as he removed his arm from behind his back and got into Sambo stance.

 _Shit. Looks like like this won't be as easy as I thought. I have to move carefully or he'll break me in a dozen different spots._

Raven knelt to the ground and suddenly vanished from sight. Dragunov's expression didn't change as he backed up slowly, looking all around. Suddenly Raven came down from the ceiling with a vertical slash. Dragunov quickly rolled to the side, avoiding the sneak attack. Raven took advantage of Dragunov's sudden evasion and charged forward with a stab. But Dragunov quickly rose to his feet and caught Raven's wrist, the blade inches away from his face.

 _Shit! He's got me now!_

Dragunov quickly wrapped his arm around Raven's in an Anaconda grip. He then used his other hand and clenched Raven's chin with enough force to crush a rock. Finally he brought his leg around Raven's and swept his foot out from under him, causing him to lose balance. Dragunov pushed forward with all of his body weight, slamming Raven to the ground. He was now on top of Raven: one hand on his chin, his other arm around Raven's arm, and his knee pressed against Raven's abdomen. Raven was immobilized.

A sickening grin spread across Dragunov's face as he squeezed Raven's arm, causing Raven to hiss in pain. Eventually Raven was forced to drop his weapon, but Dragunov continued to squeeze even after. He was going to break Raven's other arm.

Raven stifled a yell as he fought against Dragunov's grip with all of his strength. He felt his tendons snapping; he wouldn't last much longer. There was only one thing he could do. Gathering up all of his strength, he swung his broken arm and struck Dragunov in the temple. The punch didn't hurt, but it startled Dragunov long enough for Raven to slip out of his grip and strike him across the face with the steel teeth of his gauntlet.

Dragunov yelped as he fell backwards, feeling the slash marks across his now torn open and bleeding cheek. Raven leaped forward and brought his shinbone crashing into Dragunov's face, knocking him to the ground instantly. Raven then got on top of him and pressed his shin against Dragunov's nose. As Dragunov howled in pain, Raven extended the knuckles of his first two fingers and began to pound Dragunov in his ribs repeatedly. Raven rained blow upon blow on Dragunov until he felt two palms smash into both sides of his temple. Raven's world suddenly went blurry and he fell off of his opponent immediately.

Dragunov jumped to his feet with an animalistic growl; his nose was bleeding now as well as his cheek. He looked down at Raven who was still trying to come around. With a sadistic smile he lifted his foot and smashed it into Raven's broken arm. Raven yelled so loudly his throat was sore. Before Dragunov had the chance to do it again, Raven backflipped to his feet and created distance.

He quickly shook his head a few times and looked at his angry opponent.

 _This is is, Raven. This is the opportunity you've waited for. He's angry, and angry makes you foolish. Just remember your training. You can break out of anything he does to you if you just concentrate! Concentrate..._

Dragunov growled and charged forward. He lifted his hand high as he approached Raven. Raven took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

 _He's aiming for my neck... choke slam!_

Dragunov raced forward and forcefully grabbed Raven by his neck, his momentum lifting Raven off of the ground. As Dragunov attempted to slam him to the ground, Raven smiled and instead used his height and momentum to flip backwards in mid air and land on his feet. Raven then used his wrist to smack Dragunov's arm upward and off of his neck. The shocked soldier's stomach was wide open to attack and and Raven slammed his fist into Dragunov's solar plexus, knocking him to the ground immediately.

 _Strike one._

Dragunov got up slowly, coughing a few times. With a grunt he ran forward and slid towards Raven's knee with his legs extended. He clamped his legs around Raven's knee and brought him to the ground immediately. With a twisted grin he squeezed tightly and tried to break Raven's leg, but Raven sat up quickly with a smile and brought his elbow down into Dragunov's kneecap. Dragunov yelled loudly and rolled backwards, attempting to get back to his feet but failing.

 _Strike two._

"What's the matter?" Raven teased. "You mad because I know how to counter your grapples? I told you my skills weren't to be undermined."

Dragunov yelled loudly and ran forward. As he approached Raven he attempted a spinning clothesline, which Raven blocked with his forearm. But Dragunov quickly twisted his body around and drove his knee into Raven's gut. As Raven hunched forward, Dragunov quickly put him in a standing guillotine headlock. With a loud yell, Dragunov squeezed with everything he had in him. Raven was surprised by Dragunov's aggressiveness, but he focused his mind and looked for all of his wide open areas.

 _Let's see... kneecap, shin, pelvis, ribs, sternum... heh heh, I have a whole smorgasbord._

Raven straightened his hand and delivered a spear strike to Dragunov's already aching ribs. As Dragunov attempted to hold his choke, Raven continued to spear Dragunov in his ribs repeatedly. Finally Raven decided to try a different approach. He drove the heel of his foot into Dragunov's shin and finally Dragunov had to let go from the pain. As Dragunov hunched over, Raven slid between his legs and got behind him. He threw a kick to his Achilles Tendon, causing Dragunov to fall backwards immediately. As Dragunov fell, Raven leaped to his feet and hooked Dragunov's neck with his arm. The both of them fell to the ground, now in a north south position.

"Now...you'll see... how it feels!" Raven grunted as he squeezed the life out of Dragunov with his one arm. Dragunov flailed his legs wildly in an attempt to free himself, but the rising water prevented proper footing. He slowly felt himself losing consciousness... was this it for him?

"NO!" Dragunov yelled as he pulled a handgun and, pointing it behind him, started firing erratically. Raven lowered himself as much as possible to avoid the bullets, but one struck him across the cheek and another grazed his temple. Thankfully he was still wearing his Kevlar ninja mask.

Dragunov fired and fired until he heard nothing but clicks. In another desperate attempt, he turned the gun upside down and started hammering Raven's fingers with the butt of the pistol. Raven closed his eyes tightly to stifle the pain, but soon the feeling of the gun smacking his fingers became unbearable.

 _No! I don't care if they all break! I'm not letting go no matter what!_

With a few choked gasps, Dragunov's grunts were soon nothing but a squeak.

 _That's it. More! More!_

Suddenly a loud creaking of metal resonated throughout the ship. Raven listened carefully; was that flooding water? His suspicion was confirmed when he looked ahead and a raging tide rushed towards them!

"No! Not like this! I was so clo-" Raven's yelling was drowned out when the water hit him facefirst and washed the two of them down the hallway. Raven's grip had finally broken and Dragunov had passed out.

 _There's no way he'll survive this. Goodbye, old friend._

Convinced that he had finished the job, Raven left Dragunov where he lay and quickly started running in the opposite direction of the rushing water. The water was rising fast, and eventually Raven had to run across the ceiling just to get to higher ground.

 _I won't let it end like this! Go faster, Raven! You're faster than light! Faster than a bullet! You won't get done in by a little water!_

Raven raced through the ship at blinding speed. Higher... higher... finally he made it topside and witnessed the carnage that was happening outside. The coastline was in flames from all of the wreckage of the tanks, but many of the major ships that were attacking had gone belly up as well.

 _Doesn't look like anyone's really winning in this scenario... but that doesn't matter now! I've gotta do something or I'm going down with the ship._

With no means of transportation, Raven's only option was to leap overboard and swim back to the coast; all with one hand.

"It won't be easy... but I've done harder shit than that!"

Raven counted to three and finally jumped. As he hit the water he paddled frantically to keep himself afloat and distance himself from the sinking metal beast.

Meanwhile, on an adjacent ship, the captain looked in horror as his commander's ship sunk to the bottom of the sea.

"T-the general! Is he...?"

"What do we do?" his first mate stammered.

"We... we lost General Dragunov... I can't... there's no way we'll win this now! We have to retreat!"

The tide of battle soon turned as the Russian armada started to turn around. As the ships changed course, they were pounded by the artillery of the Tekken Force on the coastline. Many of the ships were sunk before they managed to turn around.

"Look! The bastards are running!" a Tekken soldier yelled with a whoop. The soldiers all started cheering and yelling as the Russian armada ran away, defeated.

It felt like Raven had been swimming for years as he slowly made his way back to the coast. His muscles all felt like noodles, and he wanted to close his eyes so badly. It took every ounce of his being to will himself forward as he trudged onward. Finally, land was in sight!

"Come on Raven... come on!" Raven kept yelling to himself. He was so close... so close... he could reach out his arm and touch it! Finally with one last stroke, Raven threw himself onto the dry land and panted harder than he had ever panted before. He looked up at the moonlit sky with a smile.

"Mission... accomplished..." he said as he collapsed from exhaustion.

 **Welp, that's over. Or is it? Honestly, I don't even know! I'm sure the real question you're asking is how could Raven fly a jet or swim with one arm? Well I say shame on you for imposing your logic on me!** **Also, cookie for anyone who is familiar with another Raven fic that shares this chapter's name. It was all I could think of!**

 **Next... final round?**


	27. Chapter 27: Last Stand

**I know last chapter was heart stopping, but don't calm down just yet. I apologize if this chapter isn't up to par, but I'm still burned out from the last one. Enjoy this shocking conclusion to the Russian invasion! See? It wasn't so tedious, now was it?**

When Raven awoke, the sun was just poking up over the horizon. He groaned and sat up, looking around; the place was completely deserted.

"Is it over?" he mumbled to himself as he got up and stretched. He checked his body to make sure he was still in one piece.

 _One arm, two legs. Heh, guess I'm in good shape._

Raven slowly trudged up the coast and towards the city. All he could think about was getting a bite to eat and maybe taking a REAL shower.

Suddenly, his earpiece began to speak.

 _"Hey. Raven! Where are you, man?"_

Raven yawned once or twice and sat down, activating his earpiece.

"Raven here. What's going on?"

 _"Thank God! I just wanted to say you did a hell of a job taking care of Dragunov! Officially, it was the Tekken Force that sunk his flagship and he died with it, but we all know the real story and that's what matters. You're a hero, Raven, but sometimes the world never gets to know it."_

"The place is in pretty good shape. It looks like the Tekken Force has pulled out already. So, the war is over?"

 _"You bet your ass it's over! Listen to this."_

 _"THE DEATH OF SERGEI DRAGUNOV... HAS AFFLICTED ALL OF US. HE WAS MORE THAN A GENERAL; HE WAS A HERO, A PATRIOT... AND A FRIEND. RUSSIA WILL WEEP FOR MANY NIGHTS FOR THE LOSS OF HER LOYAL SON, AS WILL ALL OF US. I REALIZE NOW THAT IT WAS FOOLISH TO SEEK RETALIATION. LET THIS BE A LESSON, NOT ONLY TO OUR NATION, BUT TO THE WORLD, THAT REVENGE ONLY LEADS TO SUFFERING AND LOSS. WHAT MANY DON'T REALIZE IS THAT IT GOES BOTH WAYS."_

"Sounds like the Prime Minister is beating himself up pretty hard..."

 _"You couldn't have done better, agent. Now the Prime Minister won't even think about taking revenge now that you've deprived Russia of it's finest soldier."_

"Yeah..."

 _"By the way... are you okay? I mean, the guy used to be-"_

"But he's not now. The past doesn't matter. I just completed another job, that's all."

 _"You can consider yourself on vacation. You've done some damn fine work."_

"Thank you, sir. Raven out." And with that, he clicked off his earpiece and smiled.

 _Good thing I didn't tell him about the aircraft..._

As Raven walked towards the city, a powerful hand grabbed him from behind and turned him around. When Raven's eyes met with the assailant, his mouth dropped. Before he even had time to say "oh shit" a fist collided with his face and knocked him to the ground.

"Y-you..." Raven moaned. His attacker was Dragunov, who had somehow survived the sinking of his ship. He was now shirtless and had lost his boots and gloves as well, leaving him wearing nothing but his military pants. He was soaked head to toe and his hair was hanging down in his face, giving him a barbaric appearance.

"We're going together... old friend." he spat, venom dripping with every word. He grabbed Raven by his foot and begun to drag him back down to the coastline and towards the water.

Raven grunted and struggled to break free of the grasp, but Dragunov's grip was too tight. Finally they made it back to the water and Dragunov set Raven down. Raven started to get up, but a foot to the face quickly changed his mind. With a look of pure bloodlust Dragunov grabbed Raven by the neck and shoved his head underwater. Raven struggled to breathe in Dragunov's monstrous grip, but his instincts quickly kicked in and he punched Dragunov in the jaw repeatedly in an effort to break free. Dragunov only growled and took the full force of the blows.

 _Shit, it's not slowing him down!_

Raven decided to try something else. He raised his arm and pointed the steel teeth toward Dragunov's face. With a hard swing Raven dug the teeth into Dragunov's flesh and scraped downward, tearing the flesh and causing stinging pain.

"AAAAGH!" Dragunov yelled as he finally let Raven go. Raven emerged from the water and tackled Dragunov to the ground. Not caring what hand he used, he swung rapidly and rained blows upon Dragunov's face. Dragunov finally focused and, anticipating the next swings, caught Raven's next two punches. He then jerked Raven's arms upward as hard as he could, the pain of the broken arm nearly bringing tears to Raven's eyes. Dragunov then let go of his arms and threw a palm strike to his jaw. Raven fell off of him and quickly rose to his feet, drawing his only weapon; his lone kodachi.

Dragunov got up and spit blood, getting into stance. But this time, Raven decided to wait HIM out. Dragunov was angry and vengeful and would almost certainly make the first move. Sure enough, Dragunov charged forward, yelling loudly.

Raven ran towards him, the blade pointed high. When he reached Dragunov, he didn't attack high; he instead rolled underneath his punch and slashed, leaving a huge gash in his upper thigh. Dragunov limped forward a few steps before falling to the ground, a pool of blood quickly forming.

"This fight's over." Raven said, pointing the blade. Dragunov forced himself back to his feet and charged forward.

"Why do you keep going?!" Raven yelled. Dragunov attempted to clothesline him but Raven leaped over him and, twisting his body in midair, delivered a diagonal slash all the way across Dragunov's back. Dragunov fell facefirst; he wasn't getting up from that one.

Raven walked up to the moaning Dragunov and rolled him over on his back, looking into the eyes of his hated enemy. Dragunov looked back, rage and fury in his eyes.

"DO IT!" he bellowed, pointing to his bare chest.

Without hesitation, Raven raised the blade high and rammed it through Dragunov's chest, penetrating his heart. Dragunov coughed and hacked a few times, blood spewing from his mouth. His eyes never left Raven's as he breathed his last.

Raven put his hand over his dead opponent's face and closed his eyes; an act of common courtesy, before picking him up and dropping him into the nearby water. Raven watched as his body sunk to oblivion.

 **EPILOGUE**

Raven flopped onto the bed in his luxury hotel, groaning loudly. After a long day of rehabilitation, sleep was the last step. He had showered, visited a hospital, and ate the biggest meal he had ever eaten. Needless to say, he was feeling much better after the events of that morning.

"Well Raven... you survived again." he said with a chuckle. "Guess you get to keep your lovely job of saving the day."

As he stared at the ceiling, he couldn't help but think about what happened that morning. Dragunov had acted so... different.

 _Dragunov... he could have returned to his country. But instead, he came to hunt me down. Maybe... maybe he didn't want to return to Russia knowing he had failed his country. It's sad, but in a way, admirable. To love your country so much that you'd die for it... could I ever be like that? Like him? One day... will I have to die for the world? Will I even be willing to?_

Raven decided to stop thinking and just sleep. He finally closed his eyes, but when he remembered one tiny detail his eyes shot back open; he realized he was stranded in Japan once again.

"God dammit! I REALLY don't feel like telling them I lost another jet..." Raven said with a groan. He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow.

"Eh, maybe I'll work up the nerve eventually. But for the time being, I guess I better get used to Hokkaido."

 **And thus ends the Russian Invasion Arc! Or as I like to call it, Raven and Dragunov going at it nonstop! That being said, I hereby announce that this story is almost over! There's one more little story arc to go, and I'm sure you'll all enjoy it! So, uh... keep reading!**

 **Next time: I don't know. Maybe it'll be a filler or maybe I'll get straight to the nitty gritty.**


	28. Chapter 28: Unexpected Reunion

**To those of you who have made it this far, I salute you. Rest assured, this story is almost over. Raven has one more ass to kick, and this time he has a little help from a certain female assassin. Enjoy what I hereby dub... The Evil Reborn Arc!**

 **Oh, and special shoutout to dunkingman, who reviewed and followed. It's kind of an honor actually; the guy has made TWO 22 chapter fics starring Kunimitsu and Raven. I finally got around to reading them, and they are awesome! If you're reading this dunkingman, I hope my Raven fic is half as good as yours.**

Two months have passed since the defeat of Dragunov and the prevention of the war between Japan and Russia. The incident was soon to be forgotten by history. Since then, Raven has enjoyed an easier time in the field, doing odd jobs such as breaking up vicious gang conflicts and even stopping felons. Until one day, he receives a strange visitor...

 **A SMALL TOWN IN SPAIN**

 _"Your mission is to find the man who has been charged with assault and battery on numerous, and I do mean numerous, individuals including police officers, grand theft, vandalism, and possibly murder. The man is extremely dangerous and has been evading local authorities for months and maybe even a whole year. Now that nobody's going to war all of a sudden, you've got an opportunity to put a stop to him."_

"Understood. What's the name again?"

 _"Miguel Caballero Rojo. He's a lone wolf, but he may have been affiliated with gangs in the past. He's a dangerous hand to hand combatant. Kill or capture, it's his choice. Be careful."_

"I'll take care of it. Raven out."

Raven clicked off his earpiece and looked at the streets below. The place wasn't very lively, not to mention it didn't look very welcoming. There was hardly any sound in the air, save for a few distant sirens.

"Alright, let's do this. One more dirtbag to clean up." Raven told himself, and started his run. He leaped from the rooftops, carefully scanning the alleys and corners. There were lots of unpleasant looking people standing around, who gave Raven a snarl as he leaped past them. Raven didn't bother to remain unseen; he was more than capable of handling himself.

 _One after the other... but which one of these shitheads is Rojo?_

Raven made his way across the rooftop of a restaurant and suddenly stopped. He looked around the back: a huge gathering at a nearby dumpster. There seemed to be two opposing sides, both with sharp and blunt objects in their were staring at each other with murder in their eyes.

 _Shit, looks like somethings about to go down. Should I...?_

"What the f*** are you doin in our territory, ese?" the head of one of the gangs said, getting in the other leader's face.

"You know what the f*** I'm doin here, holmes. You had this shit comin since you jumped Guillermo last week."

"Man, that little pussy bitch stole from us! What he received was retribution, dawg."

"Yeah, well the Diablo Killaz don't take that shit sittin down. You better be ready to spill blood, homie."

"Bring it on, you... who the hell?"

Their conversation was cut short by the appearance of a large man wearing a wide open orange shirt and black pants. He had a chain wrapped around his arm and he was wielding a lead pipe. The man growled almost like a lion, and a smile crept upon his face.

The thugs all started to back up slowly at the sight of the intimidating man as he drew closer and closer towards them.

"Oh shit, it's f***ing Rojo!" one of the thugs yelled.

"Relax, holmes, there's one of him and a shitload of us." the leader reassured. He brandished his knife and charged towards the stranger. With an animalistic growl the man swung his lead pipe and struck the leader in the kneecap, shattering it instantly. As the man fell on the ground crying, all of his buddies rushed in to take the guy on.

 _Could this be..._

The man couldn't stop smiling as he laid waste to everybody who approached him. He took a deep lunge and threw his fist forward with all of his might, breaking the jaw of one thug and sending him flying. He spun around with an elbow, knocking out a guy who approached from behind. One thug swiped with a knife, but the man parried with his lead pipe and slammed it into the guy's gut. As the thug hunched over, the man took the knife and stabbed him through the neck with it.

"This guy's good..." Raven whispered to himself as he watched the massacre.

Two men tried to restrain the stranger's arms, but the man lifted them with ease and, swinging them around and around, flung them onto the hard pavement with a thud. One thug charged with a wooden board, but the man picked him up and raised him over his head, then brought the thug down on his knee, breaking his back instantly. The last thug standing ran towards the stranger, yelling and swinging a baseball bat. With his same sick grin, the man got a running start and then swung his lead pipe with both hands like a baseball bat, striking the thug in the forehead and killing him instantly from head trauma.

By the time the fighting had stopped, both gangs were on the ground dead save for one: the one whose kneecap had been shattered. With a few chuckles, the large man approached the leader, who was backing up and crying from the pain, and now from fear.

"Please... Mr. Rojo, please NOOOO!"

But his please were useless as Rojo got on top of him and started pounding him repeatedly with the lead pipe, cackling while he did it. By the time he was done, the thug's face was unrecognizable.

"That's him alright. I can't let this guy roam free." Raven said as he stood up and prepared to make his move. He stopped, however, when he saw what Miguel Rojo did next. After getting off of the man, his smile faded instantly and he fell to the ground, sobbing. He still continued to laugh a little, but it was soon replaced by nothing but wails.

"It's not enough..." Miguel sobbed. He shut his eyes tight and slapped himself a few times.

"IT"S NOT ENOOOOOOOUGH!"

"He's in pain." a mysterious voice said from behind. Raven quickly turned around to see a figure wrapped up in a reddish brown cloak, a hood pulled over her head.

"I can feel his aura. So much pain... but the pain is channeled into his fists and unleashed on the evil and innocent alike. A pathetic soul, blinded by fury and vengeance... there are so many like him nowadays. If left unchecked, his only fate is to cause pain and suffering to those around him with no remorse in his heart."

"And you are?" Raven finally asked.

"Surely you haven't forgotten me. Or am I just another civilian to you?"

"Your voice... you're..."

Suddenly the woman pulled out a dagger and threw it with perfect precision at Raven's face. With lighting fast reflexes, Raven caught the blade between two of his fingers. He turned the blade around and started to lunge forward, but the woman put her hand up, signaling a surrender.

"You're still as fast as ever, ninja, though I sense that you've become much stronger since we last met." the woman said with a smile.

"Why have you followed me here, Zafina? How did you know I was here?"

"My abilities are not to be undermined." Zafina said, removing her cloak. She was in her usual attire: an Arabic looking red skirt and a small gold top that showed ample cleavage and her well toned abdomen.

"You give off a powerful aura: a light within the darkness that has engulfed our world. I tracked you here because I need your help." she continued.

"Sorry, but I only take one job at once." Raven said, folding his arms.

"Then perhaps I should help you finish it faster, considering you've allowed your target to escape." Zafina said with a chuckle. Raven turned and looked around the dumpster: Miguel was nowhere in sight.

"Damn it, woman!" Raven yelled, throwing her dagger down in anger. Zafina picked up her dagger and sheathed it, smiling.

"Relax. I can sense where he's going even now. He'll scour the alleys, looking for the next victim to release his anger on. He'll fight... and kill... but it won't sate him. Nothing will ever appease his appetite for violence as long as justice remains unfulfilled."

"What 'justice' are you talking about?" Raven asked.

"If you do not know, perhaps you should ask." Zafina said, pointing to Raven's ear. Taking the hint, Raven turned his back to Zafina and activated his earpiece.

"Raven here. I found Rojo, but he escaped. Also, I've run into an unexpected person. Are you aware that I was being tracked?"

 _"Negative, if you were being tracked we would know it. The person must be good. You're cleared to use lethal force."_

"That won't be necessary. I don't think she plans on hurting me. Anyway, I need intel on this Miguel guy. Anything I can use against him?"

 _"Alright, hold on... okay it says here there's a warrant for his arrest in Japan for an attempt on Jin Kazama's life."_

"He's got it out for Jin? Big surprise there. What do you reckon the bastard did to him?"

 _"We're searching for possible relatives... oh wow, we found something. It says here approximately a year and a half ago, Miguel's entire family was killed at his sister's wedding in an indiscriminate bombing by the Tekken Force. It says here his sister loved him considerably even though his family wasn't too fond of him."_

"That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you."

Raven switched off his earpiece and turned back around. Zafina was nowhere to be found.

"Son of a... she was supposed to tell me where he went..." Raven grumbled. He searched around one last time, then leaped from the rooftop. As soon as he landed on his feet, a pair of hands wrapped around his chest tightly. Raven's instincts kicked in immediately and he flipped the figure over his shoulder. The person landed on their feet perfectly, then turned to Raven with a smirk.

"You seem tense. You'd be much faster if you let go of your troubles."

"Damn it Zafina, what are you trying to do to me?" Raven asked, annoyed. She looked at him with her same smirk.

"Be quiet and follow me."

The two of them sprinted through the alleys to catch back up with Miguel. The man was more elusive than they had anticipated, but with Zafina's heightened perception they caught back up with him in no time. When they found him again, he was cornering a man and his girlfriend that had stumbled into the wrong alley.

"Wha-what do you want with us?!" the man asked, holding his girlfriend tight. Miguel growled and approached them, brandishing his lead pipe and smiling sadistically.

"You can do it." Zafina assured. "Take him down." Raven nodded and ran out to stop Miguel. Miguel raised the lead pipe over his head and prepared to bring it down on the couple, who were trembling with fear.

"NO!" Raven shouted as he threw his shuriken and sliced the lead pipe in half. Miguel turned around quickly, growling. When he saw Raven, his smile came back. He threw down his pieces of lead pipe and slowly approached Raven, cracking his knuckles. The couple quickly ran off.

"You look like fun." Miguel said, still smiling. "Maybe you can help me out."

"With what?" Raven asked, getting into stance.

"I'm in a shitty mood... and beating your face in might cheer me up a little!"

"You don't need to do this. Your family is already dead!"

Miguel stopped in his tracks after hearing this. His smile faded and he looked at Raven with burning eyes.

"What... did... you just... say to me?" he snarled.

"I told you the truth. Nobody you hurt or kill is going to bring your family back. Do you think your sister wants you to be like this?"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY SISTER!" Miguel screamed, running forward with his fist raised. Raven anticipated his punch and prepared to dodge.

 _He has no discipline in his attacks. There's no way he can touch me._

Miguel swung with all of his might, but hit nothing but air as Raven sidestepped. He tried to spin around with a backfist, but Raven easily swayed out of it's path. Miguel was getting mad now. He started swinging furiously at Raven. Left, right, left, right... but his fist couldn't connect. He tried to throw Raven off with a low kick, but Raven leaped and sprung off of Miguel's face with his left foot, knocking him on his back as Raven backflipped through the air and landed on his feet.

"Why do you attack people? Is it a release? Do you imagine it's Jin Kazama you're beating?"

"Don't you ever say that name to me again." Miguel said as he got to his feet. He sprinted forward with both fists interlaced and swung at Raven like a madman. Raven effortlessly swayed out of the way of the powerful swings.

"Hold... still... you... f***ing... ASSHOLE!"

Miguel threw a punch which whizzed past Raven's head. Raven seized the opportunity to grab his arm by the wrist. Raven lowered the arm and slammed his elbow into Miguel's humerus, causing pain to flood through the arm immediately. Taking advantage of Miguel's pain, Raven raised the arm high and delivered a hard chop to his serratus anterior muscle. Miguel's arm immediately went limp from the pain, and he stopped struggling.

 _Now I've got you._

Raven turned around, raising Miguel's arm high, and Judo flipped him onto the ground at his feet. As Miguel's back hit the ground, Raven leaped into the air with a frontflip and came down on Miguel's sternum with his heel. Miguel winced in pain as Raven rolled backwards and leaped to his feet.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get back up." Raven said, folding his arms.

Miguel cursed and punched the ground. Raven had to step back and cover his ears to drown out Miguel's yelling and cursing. But suddenly, his anger subsided and was replaced by tears.

 _Again?_

"You... asshole..." he sobbed. "Why wouldn't you let me hurt you! Don't you see? It's the only way I can feel..."

"Feel what?" Raven asked, kneeling down.

"ANYTHING! Don't you get it! I have nothing! NOTHING! What do I have to live for now?!" He rolled over on his stomach and pressed his face against the pavement.

"All I have left is fighting. I don't care who, or why. But it's my only hope now. It's the only way I can live."

He leaped back to his feet.

"I don't care who dies! Even if it's me, so be it!" He raised his fist and prepared to strike again.

"Is that how you honor your family's memory?" Raven asked. Miguel stopped and lowered his fist for a second.

"I don't care about my family."

"You loved your sister, didn't you? What about her?"

"I told you...!"

"Open your eyes!" Raven shouted. "You're disgracing your sister with your actions! I won't pretend to know about your relationship with her, but if I had to guess I'd say she saw the good in you when others didn't. She believed in you... and you destroy it all!"

"I didn't destroy anything! Jin Kazama did!"

"That's just the shitty world we live in! People die and justice isn't served properly half the time! But we press on anyway, because what else can we do? We can't change the past, and we can't predict the future. We can't prevent bad things from happening or ease the pain that comes with it. We either rise above it and move on... or we give up."

Miguel fell to the ground, tears welling up. He shut his eyes tight and pounded the ground with his fists, not caring that they were turning bright red and bleeding.

"Life is a one way street." Raven continued. "You either keep moving forward, or you stop. If you don't want to live in this twisted world anymore, I'll grant you a swift death. So what'll it be, Rojo? Will you come with me and submit to the authorities, or do you wish to join your family?"

Miguel was quiet for a few minutes. He just sat on the ground and stared at his bloody fists. After a couple minutes had passed, he stood up and dusted himself off. He then turned to Raven and raised his fists.

"Let me see my sister again, but I want to go out on my own terms doing the only thing I know. So what do you say? Will you give me one last fight?"

Raven got into stance and nodded.

"I don't want you to hold anything back! This is to the death!"

Miguel charged forward with his fist raised and leaped forward with a superman punch, which Raven blocked. Miguel's tremendous force pushed him back into the wall with a hard impact, causing a grunt of pain to escape from Raven's throat. Raven quickly recovered and frontflipped forward, dodging a one two punch and countering with a spinning kick to the ribs. As Miguel hunched over, Raven backfisted him in the face then finished the combo with a sweep kick that knocked him on his back.

As Miguel hit the ground, he unwrapped the chain from his hand and wrapped it around Raven's ankle. He jerked back, knocking Raven to the ground and giving Miguel a chance to get on top of him. Raven brought his knees upward to prevent Miguel from getting a full mount, but Miguel was still close enough that he could punch Raven's face.

 _Shit... he'll pound my face in!_

Raven raised his forearms vertically to prevent straight punches, but he was still vulnerable to hooks. Miguel's punches felt like trucks hitting him in his temple; he couldn't take much more.

 _I can't use hand signals to teleport... I'll have to channel my aura mentally..._

"HAAH!" Raven yelled as his body vanished, leaving Miguel's next punch to hit the ground. The hard pavement broke at least three of his fingers.

"AGH! Son of a... where the hell?" Miguel stood up, clutching his hand, and looked everywhere. He finally looked up only to see Raven's foot slam into his face. The force of the kick knocked Miguel to the ground, causing Raven's foot to crush his face upon impact.

As Raven backflipped off of his opponent, Miguel stood up extremely wobbly. After hitting his head on the concrete, he could hardly see straight. He blinked a few times and shook his head until his vision was restored. Finally he could see forward, and the first thing he saw was Raven's palm striking his nose, breaking it and causing blood to pour immediately. Miguel immediately clutched his nose and Raven continued the onslaught by drawing his fist back and slamming it into Miguel's windpipe.

Miguel gasped loudly and clutched his throat as the stumbled backwards into the wall. Raven decided to finish the fight by charging forward and leaping with a flying knee into Miguel's gut. Before Miguel could fall to the ground, Raven caught him by his chin and lifted him with his right hand.

"Any last words?" Raven asked his defeated opponent.

"Ju...just make it quick..." he wheezed.

"Very well."

Raven pulled out his blade and held it to Miguel's neck. With a forceful swipe Raven slit his throat, dropping him to the ground afterward. A smile spread across Miguel's face as he quickly lost consciousness.

"Target eliminated." Raven said, sheathing his blade. Out of curiosity, Raven looked around; sure enough, there was Zafina sitting on top of a dumpster.

"Just as I had hoped. You are more than qualified." she said, smiling slightly.

"Qualified for what?" Raven asked. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here."

Zafina got off of the dumpster and slowly approached him, getting extremely close to his face.

"I'm here because I need you. I had no one else to turn to, so I thought maybe you and Lars could help me... like you did before."

Raven thought about Lars for a second.

 _Lars is happy with Alisa now. I can't pull him back into the crossfire. Whatever she needs... I'll handle it._

"Lars is not an option. If you need something, you answer to me." Raven told her firmly.

"Very well then... how would you like another chance to save the world?"

 **Man, it feels great to get over that horrible bump in the road called writer's block! Now I can finish this story as promised! I hope you enjoyed more philosophical Raven and I apologize for angsty Miguel. Also, if I'm not doing Zafina right just let me know. It prolly won't change anything, but tell me anyway ^_^**

 **Next: Zafina gives Raven his new assignment...save the world!**


	29. Chapter 29: Ultimatum

**Kudos to my loyal reviewers, including dcbaij15! You guys are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I think it's one of my favorites. Nonstop action and this time, you may be surprised who's on the receiving end of a life lesson...**

"...Save the world? Are you serious?" Raven asked Zafina, rubbing the top of his head.

"Unfortunately... yes. I have sensed it: the same horrific energy that plagued the Earth nearly two years ago. He is coming... I don't know how it's possible, but if he is allowed to be fully resurrected, the world will know true fear."

 **"** Surely you're not referring to... but how?"

"As I said, it is a mystery even to me. But nonetheless, we must seek out the source of this darkness and extinguish it. Will you accept?"

Raven took a few steps back and exhaled deeply. After what he just heard, he had to sit down.

 _It's just not possible. That giant dragon thing that me and Lars had to fight? I saw it with my own eyes... Jin killed that thing! I swear if I have to..._

"I'm waiting on your answer, ninja. Will you accept your fate?"

Raven stood back up and got closer to her.

"Fate? Don't tell me this is my fate. You like to use that word a lot, but I know what you're trying to do."

"Hmm? And what would that be?" Zafina asked with a smirk.

"You're trying to lure me in by making me think it's all predetermined. You think I'll do your bidding because some higher power said I would? What if I were to say no right now? What would be my 'fate' then?"

"Heh... but you won't say no."

Raven was starting to get annoyed. "You like to think you know everything, don't you Zafina? You're so sure of it all. Well I have news for you: I don't believe in fate. I make my own destiny."

"Don't you get it? It's fate that brought me to you. How else could I find such an elusive person like you?" Zafina said with a smile. She started to run her hand across Raven's cheek as she spoke.

"I came here to find you because there can be no one else. You are the protector, ninja; you've sworn your life to maintaining the balance of the Earth. Who else but you can help me extinguish the evil that I myself am sworn to prevent?"

Raven turned away from her. "I... understand, but..."

"But what?"

"Look, enough of this!" Raven growled. "I refuse to be part of this supernatural bullshit! Go find someone else!"

Raven started to walk away, but was stopped by a dagger pressed to his neck.

"That's not the answer I'm looking for." Zafina said.

Raven quickly spun around and thrust his palm into Zafina's chest, knocking her backwards but not hard enough for her to fall.

"So it's gonna be like that, huh?" Raven asked, drawing his kodachi given to him by Kunimitsu.

"Relax. I have no intention of killing you." Zafina said, drawing her second dagger. "Call it a friendly competition. If I win, you must come with me. Deal?"

"So you've given up on 'fate' and now you want to make a wager? Fine with me!"

The two of them closed distance and their blades clashed together with earth shaking force. Zafina stabbed repeatedly with her left blade, setting Raven up for a slash with her right. Raven swayed left and right, dodging the stabs.

 _Now!_ Zafina thought as she spun around with a horizontal swipe. Raven anticipated it and backflipped out of range of the attack. He then sprung forward with a swipe to her right thigh, But Zafina raised her leg high and leaped backwards. She was now in her scarecrow stance, holding one blade upward and one downward. Raven raised his blade up and slowly walked forward.

 _I can't rush this. She was born with the skills of a killer..._

Zafina leaped forward with a diagonal slash and then spun around with a horizontal swipe. She then leaped high and came down on Raven with an X slash, which Raven blocked. He pulled his blade from hers and slashed upward, knocking both her arms upward. He then threw a kick to her stomach, only to hit nothing but air as she spun to the side with lightning speed.

 _What the... I didn't even see her!_

Raven swung with a backhanded horizontal slash, but Zafina ducked. Raven continued with several swipes, but he couldn't even touch Zafina as she moved her body in ways Raven didn't think possible.

 _She's faster than I am... or is she?_

Raven threw a horizontal slash aimed at her chest, but Zafina leaned backwards so far her head nearly touched the ground. As the blade hit nothing but air, Raven used his momentum to spin around and throw a sweep kick.

 _There's no way she can jump with her body arched like that. I've got her!_

But Zafina was one step ahead as she placed her hands on the ground and pushed, springing her feet upwards and quickly backflipping to her feet.

"Damn it, you contortionist! Why don't you quit your day job and join the circus?"

"Unlike you, I'm not one to deny my fate and shirk my responsibilities." Zafina said, raising her daggers.

"Shirk my... bitch, do you know how many global conflicts I've prevented?!"

"All of your efforts will be for naught if Azazel is allowed to come back. Why don't you stop this foolishness and come with me?"

"You started this fight!"

"Because your eyes need to be opened."

"I told you I'm not doing it."

"I can sense your doubt... you lack faith. Not in the supernatural, but in your own skills."

"Shut up!" Raven yelled as he charged forward and stabbed directly for her forehead. Zafina swiped upwards with both blades, sending Raven's blade flying.

"Yield." she commanded, holding the blades to both sides of his neck.

"Never!" he yelled, performing a quick hand motion and vanishing. Zafina leaped back, anticipating his descent. But she was still caught off guard as Raven closed in from out of nowhere and cartwheel kicked her blades out of her hands.

"So it's hand to hand now." Zafina said, getting into stance. "Very well. You'll find that I''ve improved much since the attack on my village."

Raven closed in on her with a spinning chop, which was easily evaded. Raven threw continuous openhanded strikes, but like a snake Zafina weaved her way through each one. Raven tried to throw a spear strike, but Zafina swung her arms like a windmill and knocked Raven's hand aside, then used her speed and momentum to throw a double handed palm into his stomach.

"Urgh!" Raven grunted as he slid backwards, but remained on his feet.

"Where is your confidence?" Zafina asked. "How can you protect humanity if you don't even have the will to defeat me?"

"I do have the will! You're just... too fast!" Raven spat.

"When you remove all doubt from your mind and release yourself from your human conscience... you become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." Zafina stated. "Release the clouds from your mind, and you can read my movements like a children's book!"

Raven sprinted forward even faster than before and attempted a vertical arc kick, but Zafina leaned back just enough for the kick to whiz past her head. Raven lunged forward and attempted a low chop, but Zafina backflipped and got on all fours, getting low to the ground.

"Tarantula! I know your moves from the last time we fought together. Don't think you can surprise me!" Raven shouted as he leaped high into the air and came down, the toe of his shoe aimed for Zafina's spine.

 _In that stance she's weak to overhead strikes. You're mine, bitch!_

Zafina smiled as she rolled to the side, completely avoiding Raven's precision kick. Raven quickly stood up, ignoring the searing pain in his foot. He stared at Zafina intensely; he wasn't going to let her break him.

 _Why... why do I feel so shitty? It's not my problem. Zafina's the one with special powers. SHE's the one who has a duty to stop this thing. What the hell could I do, anyway? I'm just..._

Raven yelled and charged forward. With a smirk, Zafina caught Raven by surprise by slithering in between his legs at blinding speed.

"What the-?"

Now behind him, Zafina thrust her fingers into both of Raven's popliteal fossa (knee joints), causing Raven's legs to bend at the knee. Raven immediately fell backwards, giving Zafina the perfect opening for a classic chokehold in the north south position.

 _Oh shit. Now I know what it's like to be caught in one of these..._

Raven struggled against her intense grip, but Zafina firmly held on. Deciding he couldn't risk wasting his energy by teleporting, Raven decided to break out the old fashioned way. Lifting his legs high in the air, he thrust them forward as hard as he could. He continued this flopping motion until Zafina's grip began to waver; his body weight fighting against her made her hold hard to maintain. Finally, Raven managed to roll onto his side and, using both hands, managed to press against Zafina's abdomen until his head popped out of her arms.

"Ha!" Raven yelled, wasting no time in rolling backwards and getting up. Zafina stood back up, dusting herself off.

"Good, so your defense is adequate. Now how about you land a hit on me?" she said with a small chuckle."

"Grrr... I've had enough of you." Raven said sternly as he decided to stand back and let her come to him. Giving a come gesture, Zafina obliged and ran towards the ninja.

 _High? Low? Maybe she wants to tackle me..._

Raven stuck out his arms to anticipate her attack, but what she did next completely threw him off guard. She leaped onto his body and wrapped herself around his torso like an anaconda!

"What... the... hell?!"

Zafina smirked and started squeezing him with her back muscles. Pain immediately started erupting into his ribs and Raven's breath was starting to fade from his body.

"Argh! Get OFF!" Raven yelled as he elbowed her torso repeatedly. Finally Zafina broke off and returned to normal stance. Raven fell to his knees, wheezing.

 _God damn it... she's got the weirdest moves I've ever seen. How can I beat her!_

"So you've survived yet again. But be warned; this next one will be impossible for you to break out of."

She got back into tarantula stance and awaited Raven's next attack.

"You gonna try that again? I know its weakness." Raven smirked as he vanished. He then appeared high in the air above Zafina and came down on her like a bomb.

"Forgive me for this." Zafina said as she bent her leg over her head like a scorpion stinger and thrust it forward. Her foot connected with Raven's groin just as he was about to impact. The pain shot through his pelvis and flooded the rest of his body as Raven fought the urge to yell his lungs out. He could feel tears forming as he fell to the ground on his stomach.

 _GOD DAMN IT! THIRD F***ING TIME!_

Raven was completely incapacitated, giving Zafina the perfect opening for her deadliest submission: the Muta Lock. She rolled onto his back and locked his ankle within her knee joint. She then bridged her body and stretched her arms until they reached his neck. With his ankle and neck firmly gripped, she arched her body upward as high as possible to put intense strain on both of them.

"HNNNGH!" Raven choked as crushing pressure was applied to two places at once. He didn't know which was worse, his precious breath being squeezed away or his ankle feeling like it's about to snap.

"Yield!" she commanded.

Raven tried his best to hold out, but to no avail. He was finally forced to tap out and concede. With a smile, Zafina let go of Raven and rolled off of him. Raven rolled onto his back, panting and gasping as he recovered from the debilitating hold.

"So that settles that." Zafina said, holding out her hand to help Raven up. Raven refused the gesture and sat up, still breathing loudly.

"I can't believe I lost so miserably. I couldn't even touch you." he said with a sigh.

"You have the skills, but you weren't willing to use them." Zafina said. "Your mind was clouded with doubt. I know why you won't accept my offer; I can see it as clearly as the nose on your face."

"You don't know anything."

"It would be pointless for me to say it. Tell me why you refuse."

"Because it's your problem, not mine."

"You would forsake the world when it needs you the most? You, who has sworn to use your skills to protect humanity from chaos?"

"I"M AFRAID!"

Silence filled the air for a few moments after Raven's revelation finally came forth.

"There, I said it." Raven finally said. "I'm not a superpowered freak like Jin Kazama. I don't have a Devil Gene or anything, just my own natural skills."

He stood up and put his hands on Zafina's shoulders.

"You weren't there when we fought it, Lars and I. It took every ounce of my being just to stay alive. If it weren't for Lars... I wouldn't have stood a chance. Fighting that monstrosity put fear in my heart for the first time."

Raven shut his eyes tightly and looked away as he said those last words.

"I'm only a human being, and you're asking me to fight the ultimate evil... and kill it. How the hell do you expect me to feel?" he continued.

Zafina put her hands on Raven's face and looked deeply into his eyes.

"I wouldn't have come to you if I didn't have faith in you." she whispered. "I can feel your strong spirit, ninja... a spirit of courage and resolve. A spirit that won't allow you to accept defeat when there are innocent lives at risk. I know what you fight for, Raven. I know WHO you fight for."

"Then you understand why I can't afford to die. My work is never finished, and it never will be. If I die... then I'll never be able to save anyone again. I'll break the promise I made to him and he'll weep in the afterlife for my failure."

"You won't fail!" Zafina yelled. "It is fate that the two of us dispel the great evil! You have to trust that you will prevail. Believe in your skills, and you can destroy even the fiercest monster!"

She pressed her self against him and put her mouth to his ear.

"And you are not the only one who is afraid."

She let go of him and left Raven to ponder everything that she had said. As she started to walk away, she turned to Raven one last time.

"I'm going to find a motel if there is one. Join me when you've thought about my words."

And with that, she walked off and left Raven standing by himself. As he thought deeply, he looked over at the corpse of Miguel. He had died with a look of content on his face.

 _He died so peacefully, because he had no more troubles in the real world. He had nothing tying him down, so he was happy to go see his sister. But I don't have that luxury. I will always have a duty to perform; I will always have a reason, a purpose to stay alive. When I die, it won't be with a smile; rather, it will be tears at the thought of everybody I can't save. And my father... he'll scorn me. When I join him, it won't be a joyous reunion; he'll only tell me how I've disappointed him. He won't even look at me._

"If I fight this monster, I'll never survive..." Raven muttered. He looked up at the sky as raindrops started to come down.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!" he yelled to the skies above as thunder clapped.

 **Now it's Raven's turn to seek emotional guidance! Did Zafina's words do the trick? Will Raven get the confidence he needs to face the ultimate evil? Find out next time as we draw closer to the finale!**

 **Here's a little homework for you. Google professional wrestling holds and scroll down until you find Muta lock. Doesn't that just scream "Zafina?"**

 **Next: a visit to Zafina's room and a decision is made!**


	30. Chapter 30: Resolve

Raven walked slowly down the streets, kicking whatever objects happened to be at his feet. He had his hands in his pockets; he tended to do that when given a hard dilemma.

 _Azazel, the motherf***ing Rectifier of All Things. Nothing short of a god in physical form. Can I really fight that monster and win, much less survive?_

As he paced the streets, his earpiece began to speak.

 _"Raven, are you still alive?"_

"Yeah, the job's finished." Raven responded.

 _"Excellent! You did good once again, agent."_

"Umm... look, I hate to ask this of you, but I'm gonna need to take sick leave for a little while."

 _"Sick? You never get sick!"_

"Look, I don't have time to argue this! Will you just allow me some time off?!"

 _"What, you got a hot date or something?"_

"There's something I need to take care of. I don't want you to worry about it."

 _"Alright, fine. We got a few guys that can pick up your slack. Just get well soon and get back to the fray!"_

"Roger. Thank you."

The earpiece clicked and Raven let out a loud sigh.

 _I can't believe I'm thinking about this. But maybe... maybe Zafina's right. I swore to protect the Earth from any danger, no matter how big. Maybe I have no choice..._

"I guess I better go talk to her..." Raven said with a sigh.

Raven finally found the local motel, which was looking worse for wear. The lights on the sign had flickered out and the interior was even more run down. Raven considered holding his breath in the filthy place as he approached the receptionist.

"Did you see an Middle Eastern looking woman come in here?" he asked.

"Fifth room down." the man said gruffly.

Trying his best to forget the man's cigarette breath, Raven made his way down to the fifth room. Before he knocked, he stopped and thought for a second: what was he even going to say? Was he ready to accept his fate? Would he just end up arguing or even fighting with her again?

 _Here's hoping we can be civilized..._

Raven gave the door a few knocks.

"I'm here." he said with his head against the door. After about five or so seconds the door unlocked and there stood Zafina, but in a very different state than Raven had anticipated: she had her hair down and all of her jewelry removed. She was still wearing her small gold top, but she had removed her skirt and was standing in some quite provocative looking red underwear. Raven felt heat rushing to his face and he turned his head.

 _Holy shit... I guess Zafina doesn't care about being modest when she can kill you in a heartbeat._

"What's the matter? Don't you admire the female form?" Zafina said with a giggle.

Raven rolled his eyes and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"So you've thought about what I said?" she asked, flopping onto the bed.

"Yes. I guess... you have a point. I've sworn to restore peace and balance to the world, and I can't just shirk my duty because I'm intimidated. But I'm still worried that I'm throwing my life away. I can't afford to die when I have a job to do."

"Sit down." Zafina commanded, motioning beside her. Raven obliged, but still wouldn't look directly at her.

"I know exactly what you're feeling." she continued.

"Why? Because you can 'sense' me?" Raven asked.

"No... because I too have a legacy to carry on."

Raven turned and looked at her. "You never told me. In fact, you haven't told me anything about yourself."

"Then allow me to enlighten you."

Zafina scooted backwards and put her legs up onto the bed, crossing them in an Indian position. Raven fought the urge to stare at her nearly naked form, but he snapped out of his thoughts and listened.

"For many centuries, my bloodline has been responsible for nullifying evildoers and keeping the power of darkness in check. As the years passed, more and more of my family have died out, and now we are nearing extinction. There is but one of my bloodline still alive today; you're looking at her."

"I had no idea... you're the last of your family? That means..."

"Yes. That means the burden is on me to continue our legacy. I am now the sole proprietor of my family's practice of dispelling the forces of evil. Even beyond the grave, they're counting on me to continue the work that they died for. If I were to ever perish... my bloodline and our legacy is wiped from existence. The way that you feel about letting down your father is the same feeling I must live with until the day I die."

The two of them were silent for a moment as Raven processed what Zafina had said. After a moment of silence, Raven finally spoke.

"You and I have much more in common than I ever imagined. We're just two humans trying to uphold our family's duty. Two humans against a world of madness and evil..."

"But we press on because our spirits are strong and so is our resolve. Even when the odds are impossible, strength is found when we remember what is at stake and what purpose we serve. That's what must be done now, Raven. Azazel's resurrection is a trial; a test of our resolve. That's why you have to come with me; the trial is for both of us to endure. If we prevail, then we were meant to continue on and protect the world for many years to come."

"And if we fail?"

"Then we will die in disgrace, and our souls will never rest."

"Then how can you find the strength to fight when there's so much to lose?"

"The fear of defeat never leaves your heart. All you can do is... hide it. Allow your virtue to outweigh it and soon you'll forget the fear is there. Understand?"

Raven was silent.

"I know I defeated you in combat, but I don't want to strong arm you into anything. The choice is yours and yours alone."

Raven remained silent, staring at the ground. Finally he poked his head up and turned to Zafina.

"I'll fight. For the world, for my duty... I'll fight."

A smile formed across Zafina's lips as the leaned forward and threw her arms around Raven and squeezed him tightly.

"I knew you would come through for me." she said.

"Uh... thanks." Raven said, turning red in the face. "But... could you let go of me? I'm still in a lot of pain."

"Oh, forgive me!" Zafina yelled, breaking the hug. "If you're in pain, I have just the thing for that. I'm actually quite good. Here, lie on your stomach."

Wondering if he should lower his guard around a natural born killer, Raven slowly laid facedown onto the bed. Suddenly, he felt himself being mounted; Zafina was sitting on top of his back. A chill started to run through Raven's spine as Zafina slowly ran her hands upward and removed his shirt.

 _Oh no... contain yourself, Raven._

But his stoic demeanor started to quickly fade as he felt her smooth hands massaging his pain away. Suddenly, she took it a step further by leaning over and pressing her body against his back. Her hands found his shoulders and she immediately got to work kneading them like dough. All of the tension in Raven's body vanished; he suddenly felt like he was about to melt into a puddle. Her breasts sliding against his back as she worked only drove him more insane. She pressed her mouth against his ear and whispered.

"See? I'm gifted in other trades besides taking lives, you know."

Raven couldn't even speak in the midst of the pure bliss he was feeling. He wanted to moan; but he didn't want Zafina to tease him. As Raven's tension melted away, he found himself feeling at ease about everything; he was no longer stressed out and his mind was clear. He couldn't even think straight; he probably couldn't answer a basic math question if he tried. Suddenly he began to understand what Zafina was trying to accomplish.

 **30 BLISS FILLED MINUTES LATER**

"Do you feel better?" Zafina asked, standing up and stretching.

"I know what you're doing." Raven replied. "And it worked."

"I imagine you feel much lighter, don't you? You'd be surprised how much faster you can move without your mentality to weigh you down. The way you feel right now, is how you must feel when the time for battle comes."

"Yes, but your technique only works at the expense of the moment. Do you really think you'll have the time to give me a massage when we're facing down the Rectifier?"

"You'll have to find the power to achieve enlightenment on your own. You can't rely on me for everything, now can you?" Zafina said with a wink.

Raven rolled his eyes and put back on his shirt. He gathered his weapons and made his way for the door, but he was stopped by Zafina's voice.

"Where are you going?" Raven turned back around.

"I'm going to get a room."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"You're in it."

"You don't like me?"

"I need my own space to mentally prepare."

"You don't need to do that now. If you stress now, your skill will only diminish when the time comes. Stay with me, and practice putting your mind at ease."

"I've practiced long enough tonight, thank you."

"Don't forget that I won our fight. That means you're in no position to deny my requests. I command you to stay with me."

"You're not the boss of me just because you got lucky."

"Do you want to fight again? I'll remind you of what you felt like an hour ago."

"Alright, fine!" Raven yelled, surrendering. He took off his sunglasses and his weapons, then removed his shoes and forcefully threw his shirt on the ground. For the sake of avoiding any more bickering, Raven got in the bed with her and didn't say another word.

Sleep was difficult for Raven that night; not because he was deep in thought, but because he was fighting his primal instincts as Zafina snuggled against him. There was no denying Zafina was beautiful, but Raven hated to indulge when he was on duty.

"...Raven." Zafina mumbled, snapping Raven out of his train of thought.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to tell you... I really am happy to see you again. Ever since you saved my village from the onslaught of the Tekken Force, I've felt indebted to you. But... you left so abruptly. I never even got to say thank you."

"It was a desperate time for all of us. I had no choice." Raven whispered in response.

"But now that I've found you again, I want things to be different. I wish to know the man who saved my people better."

"Well... you could always give me your number."

"That's not good enough." she giggled, adjusting herself and burying her head deeper in his neck.

"Ugh, Z-zafina... could you stop moving around so much? You're making me..."

"Making you what?" she cooed.

"Um, nothing."

Zafina smiled as she closed her eyes and ran her hands along his chest slowly.

"It's hard to sleep because of you." Raven said, breaking the silence once more.

"What do you mean?" Zafina whispered, keeping her eyes closed.

"W-w-well... you're... you're close to making me do something unprofessional."

"I know what you mean." Zafina said with a chuckle. "Forgive me, Raven. Seeing you again after so long has just... stirred my emotions. I hardly know you... but you're a symbol of admiration for me."

"I want to know you better as well, but I can't afford to while I'm on duty. Maybe after we stop Azazel..."

"Wait... I have an idea." Zafina said, poking her head up and grinning. "You can't win so easily, especially after getting your ass kicked. You're a man, so if you want me you have to fight for it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven muttered.

"I'll test just how strong your resolve is. After we restore balance to the world, we'll fight again. If you win, I'll do whatever you want me to. A-ny-thing."

Raven gulped as the last word rolled off of her tongue.

"That sound like a fair wager?" she asked.

"Ugh... whatever." Raven said with a sigh.

"Good! Then let that be your incentive to fight with all of your power to stop Azazel. But for now..."

Raven's eyes shot open as Zafina gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

"...That's for agreeing to fight alongside me once more. Now go to sleep. And... put your arms around me, you coward."

Raven scoffed and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Zafina's waist.

 **Hope you enjoyed this steamy little number. I've been shipping Raven x Zafina for a while now, and reading dunkingman's fics only fueled the flames. For the record I had been planning Raven x Zafina since the beginning, but dunkingman's fics inspired me to make it a little hotter than I originally intended. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Next: the journey to Azazel!**


	31. Chapter 31: Desperate Situation

Raven and Zafina woke up early that morning to get a head start on the day. They went to a local joint for some breakfast and to discuss their next course of action.

"So you detected his presence... where?" Raven asked.

"In a desert, a few miles from my village. We must return to my village as quickly as possible before this evil aura grows bigger. My people could be in danger."

"I won't let anything happen to your people, Zafina." Raven reassured. "We can go to your village in my jump jet. I parked it near the outskirts, so it's quite a jog."

"I'll race you to it." Zafina smirked.

"Do you have to make everything a competition?" Raven said, rolling his eyes.

"Friendly competition is what keeps us in top form."

With that, Zafina slapped her money on the table and immediately ran out of the restaurant.

"H-hey!" Raven yelled, running after her. "You don't even know where it is!"

"Are you doubting my powers of perception?!" Zafina yelled, laughing as Raven quickly caught up to her. Zafina decided to mix it up a bit by running up the wall of a building and leaping onto a rooftop.

 _Shit, she can do that too?!_

Raven leaped onto an adjacent rooftop and the two of them closed distance, displaying their impressive speed and agility as they raced to Raven's aircraft. As it was bright daylight, they were getting some weird looks from passing civilians, but neither of them cared.

After a ten minute race, the two of them arrived at Raven's parked jump jet; it was a dead tie.

"It seems you've been thinking heavily about the offer I made." Zafina said with a smirk.

"Wha... what are you talking about?" Raven said, getting red faced.

"Don't deny it; your desire to best me in this race was all the proof I need. You won't allow yourself to be defeated by me anymore."

"Oh will you stop turning everything into a pissing contest?" Raven said, slapping his forehead. "Let's just go already."

Raven got in first, then made as much room as possible for Zafina to get in front. Being the horrible tease she is, Zafina got in his lap, smirking as the heat rushed to Raven's face.

"Will this aircraft get us to our destination?" she asked.

"Hopefully. It was nearly full when I got here, so maybe it'll make the trip. How far is your village again?

"Just fly and I'll guide you."

Raven draped his arms around Zafina and fired up the controls. The jet ascended into the sky and blasted off into the distance.

The trip to the Middle East took nearly a whole day, but thanks to Zafina and Raven's early start they arrived around midnight. The rumbling of the jet woke the whole village, but when the realized who it was Zafina received a warm welcome. As soon as she stepped out of the cockpit she was immediately tackled by a group of children.

"ZAFINAAA!" they yelled as they laughed and hugged her. Zafina, also laughing, wrestled with them and was finally able to get to her feet. As she walked around, shaking hands and embracing her villagers, she was approached from behind by an elder man.

"So you've come back. Does that mean you've brought the protector?" he said, stroking his beard.

Zafina quickly turned around, and when she saw who was speaking she immediately bowed.

"Great Shiekh... I have returned. And I have indeed brought the man who is destined to save us."

As if on cue, Raven appeared behind her.

"Your people seem happy to see you." he said. Without warning, Zafina snatched his pant leg and dragged him to the ground.

"Bow, you idiot! This is the wisest man in our village!" Zafina whispered loudly. Raven quickly bowed, scratching his head.

"Ho ho, there is no need for such formality. It is great to see you again, warrior." the Shiekh said, bringing Raven to his feet and shaking his hand.

"Zafina told me the story. It seems the great evil just doesn't want to stay dead." Raven said.

"Will you fight to save us once again? Zafina did not want to admit it at first, but there is no denying fate. She will not be able to stop it on her own. I hate to put this burden on you, but... fate has spoken. There can be no one else."

"I have accepted my fate as well." Raven said. "I promise to put an end to Azazel and prevent his evil from fully resurrecting."

"Great!" the Shiekh yelled. "We shall prepare a feast in your honor!"

"I'm sorry, but there's no time for that." Zafina chipped in. "The two of us must rest for the night, and head for the desert first thing in the morning."

The Shiekh lowered his head in disappointment. "Very well. I guess there will be plenty of time to celebrate when the two of you return as heroes."

The two of them bowed one last time before Zafina dragged Raven off with her.

"Come. I would like to show you around my house."

Zafina's house was further away from the village atop a hill. It wasn't a mansion, but it wasn't extremely tiny either. It seemed like a well put together place.

"The repairs have occurred at an exponential rate since the attack. My home had to be rebuilt from the ground up, but luckily my people always look out for each other. Please come in."

As soon as Raven walked in the door, he spotted talismans all over the walls and even on the ceiling. In the middle of the living room was a coffee table with a large crystal ball in the middle of it.

 _Heh... hocus pocus, just like I imagined it would be._

"To earn a living, I work as a fortuneteller. That crystal ball is used in my practices. Please don't touch it." Raven pulled his hand back, worried that she may take a few of his fingers.

Zafina guided Raven through her house, showing off her impressive collection of pottery and jewelry.

"And this is my greatest treasure." Zafina said as she opened a chest and pulled out a scimitar in a red sheath engraved with gold. She drew the blade; it was pure silver and it's radiance nearly blinded Raven. The handle was solid gold and encrusted with rubies.

"It was given to me by my father. Never once has this blade tasted blood." Zafina said, holding the blade up in the light. "I hope that the day I have to tarnish its beauty never comes." She sheathed the blade and locked it in the trunk. She then turned to Raven with a smile.

"Well then... why don't we eat? I'm quite skilled at cooking since I live on my own."

"Thanks, but I really just need to sleep." Raven said, rubbing his eyes. "Do you mind if I take your couch?"

"Of course not. But if you touch anything, our deal is off."

"Stop talking about the stupid deal!" Raven said, the heat rushing back. Zafina gave him a wink and retreated to her room for the night. Raven scoffed and threw himself onto her couch, folding his arms behind his head.

 _Damn woman... why does she have to toy with me so much? And why... why do I let her?_

A few hours had passed, and Raven had fallen into a deep sleep. Suddenly, he felt a powerful pair of arms shaking him.

"Wake up! Wake up NOW!"

Raven immediately sprung to his feet. He looked over and saw Zafina, drawing her daggers.

"The village is under attack! By Azazel's abominations!" she yelled as she darted out of the house. Raven immediately drew his kodachi and followed. As he stepped out of the house, his eyes immediately traveled upward.

 _Holy..._

The sky was a crimson red, almost bloodlike, and the clouds were pitch black. Thunder rumbled in the sky above and black lighting flashed all around.

"What the... hell is going on here?! The sky..."

"This is his work!" Zafina yelled. "Azazel's miasma of evil has almost fully awoken! We must waste no time! Kill these monsters and then... we head for that."

Raven looked off into the distance: a huge tower had appeared in the middle of the desert.

"His lingering energy must have constructed that unholy monument to protect him during the final phase of his resurrection. We haven't much time."

As Zafina spoke, a swarm of flying creatures started to close in on them. They were dark grey with piercing red eyes and razor sharp claws.

"Gargoyles!" Raven yelled. He leaped high into the air and slashed the wing of one of them, sending it plummeting to the earth. Zafina leaped onto one of them, stabbing it in the head. She then sprung off of it and propelled herself higher into the air, slashing one more vertically before landing back on the ground.

"They're coming around!" Zafina yelled. The two of them stood back to back as the gargoyles all formed a circle and started to fly around them. Raven and Zafina slashed each one as they charged forward, but they just kept coming.

"We can't waste time here! I must go make sure my people have evacuated!" Zafina yelled.

"Then I'll create an opening for you." Raven said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing all of his energy into one attack.

"Rin! Pyo! Toh! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"

Suddenly Raven rushed forward at blinding speed. All Zafina could see was a blur flashing among the gargoyles in front of them. Raven appeared beside her, panting loudly and falling to his knees. Suddenly, all of the gargoyles directly in front of them fell to the ground and faded to darkness.

"Amazing... he possesses this much power?" Zafina whispered.

"Go now!" Raven shouted. Zafina nodded and ran off towards the village. Raven got back up to his feet and faced down the rest of the gargoyles swarming around.

"Now it's just you and me, baby."

 **TEN MINUTES LATER**

Zafina drove her dagger into the skull of the last gargoyle as it faded into oblivion. She fell down, exhausted, and looked around; not one building or house had been destroyed. There were no corpses to be found.

"Thank God..." Zafina muttered with a smile. Suddenly she remembered: Raven!

"Raven!" she yelled aloud, jumping to her feet and running back towards her house.

"Please be okay... please be okay..." she kept saying to herself as she got closer and closer to where she had left him. Finally she spotted him in the distance; he was finishing off the last two gargoyles.

"RAVEN!" she yelled as she ran up and threw her arms around him, nearly tackling him to the ground.

"Thank you so much!" she yelled, kissing him on the cheek. "By creating an opening, you allowed me to fight off the gargoyles in the village and save my people in time. I'll never forget what you have done for me."

"I think you're giving me too much credit." Raven said. "All I did was what you hired me for."

"Nonetheless, the village is clear now." she said, letting go of him. "Now we must take advantage of the silence and press the attack."

"Where are your people?" Raven asked.

"They retreat to a sacred place when the village is threatened. They will be safe there. For now, I suggest we put an end to this and then we can return with words of reassurance."

The two of them looked off into the distance at the tower that had formed.

"So that's where Azazel is?" Raven asked.

"Yes... I can sense his evil aura. It gives off a foul odor that is impossible to misinterpret. He is there, without a doubt."

"Then it's time to go. I'll race you?" Raven said, raising his eyebrow.

"Just don't let me get too far ahead." Zafina said with a smirk. The two of them sprinted off into the distance and disappeared into the swirling desert sands.

 **Whew! The climax is soon approaching! Heck, I'm more excited than you are! Tune in next time as Raven and Zafina race up the tower to confront the ultimate evil! As always, reviews are encouraged and appreciated. And to you guys who just view and run, I love you too.**


	32. Chapter 32: Extinguishing Evil, Part 1

**Prepare yourselves for a wild ride! This chapter is pure action, start to finish. You'll see some quite familiar faces in this chapter that I'm sure you've been anticipating for a while. To quote Spongebob Squarepants. don't bother sitting down cause you'll just stand right up!**

The desert winds were debilitating, especially at that time of day, but Zafina and Raven remained unfazed as they willed themselves forward towards Azazel's tower.

"He hasn't sent anymore gargoyles. That must mean his power is still weak." Zafina theorized.

"Then let's get up there quick and end this." Raven reassured as the two of them ran forward with all haste. After ten minutes of nonstop running, they finally approached the tower; it was much larger up close. The two of them could no longer stand out of pure exhaustion; the nonstop running combined with the desert winds had taken it's toll.

"We can't... stay here... and twiddle our thumbs..." Raven huffed.

"We wait... 30 more seconds." Zafina panted. The two of them assumed a meditative position and breathed deeply, allowing their energy to return to their bodies. Finally they forced themselves back to their feet. Before entering the tower, they took a moment to stare at the huge structure.

"Wouldn't it be great if he WASN'T on the top floor?" Raven joked.

"I'm sorry to say, but he definitely is. I can-"

"Don't... say it. I know."

Zafina turned to Raven. "Before we go in, is there something you want to talk about?"

Raven looked at her. "Uh... not really."

"Your emotions have spiked. I can tell you're looking forward to this, as opposed to the reluctance you showed when I first confronted you. Please tell me about it?"

"Alright, fine! Well, it's just that... the first time I had to fight this thing with Lars, I felt... a sense of accomplishment. Like Lars and I had really made a difference. But then, at the last minute he came back stronger than before. All we could do was watch as Jin Kazama sacrificed himself to deal a lethal blow to the monster. And that was it. It was over. That's when I asked myself: at the end of the day what had we accomplished? JIN killed that thing. JIN was the savior. He, who plunged the world into chaos and despair, was the one who got to be the unsung hero!"

"I see. So this is why I can feel your anxiety. This is your chance for redemption."

"There will be no mistakes this time. We WILL kill that thing. The world may never know what we accomplish here, but we'll save the world nonetheless. WE will be the heroes. We deserve it."

"Hmmm... I never thought you felt so strongly about this. Very well then. Let's go save the world."

Raven nodded and the two of them finally went inside, the stone doors closing behind them as soon as they entered. There was but one way to go now: forward.

"Cmon, hurry!" Raven yelled as the two of them sprinted up the stairs. As they got higher, they were ambushed by groups of gargoyles lying in wait.

"We don't have time for this shit..." Raven muttered as the gargoyles flew high and swooped down with the speed of a dive-bomber. Raven leaped high to meet them in the sky. One gargoyle swiped at him, but Raven leaped onto it's head and stabbed his kodachi through it's forehead. He then used it's body to propel himself forward and slice another right down the middle.

Zafina dodged a gargoyle by rolling to the side, then threw her dagger and struck another between the eyes. The gargoyle she evaded closed in from behind and tried to tackle her but she backflipped over its head and crawled onto its back. With a quick swipe she slashed the gargoyles throat, killing it in seconds.

Raven threw his shuriken and decapitated two of them, but he didn't see one closing from behind.

"Raven!" Zafina yelled, alerting him. She ran behind him and leaped onto his shoulder, springing her up into the air where she was close enough to stab the gargoyle through the eye and kill it.

"Whew...thanks." Raven said. Zafina winked and patted his shoulder.

"Let's not waste time on trifles. Let's head for the top!"

It was a treacherous climb thanks to the never ending gargoyles, but they slowly but surely made their way to the top of the tower. Finally the only thing standing in their way to Azazel was a large set of stone doors.

"Great... how do we get in?" Raven asked. "They're shut tight."

"Calm yourself." Zafina reassured as she walked up to the doors and placed her hands on them.

"Azazel's power is still weak. He can't use his power to maintain this barricade. With enough force..."

Zafina suddenly raised her daggers and plunged them into the doors. Cracks started to erupt throughout them and the large stone slabs started to erupt. They slowly began to crumble until the giant doors were nothing but a pile of rubble.

"This is it." she said, turning around. "Are you ready to face the ultimate enemy?"

"I dunno. Do you feel like giving me a massage first?" Raven joked. Zafina rolled her eyes and the two of them ran through the crumbled doors.

They made their way down a large hallway, battling a few more gargoyles along the way. As they made it near the end, they approached what looked like an altar. There, they witnessed what appeared to be none other than the Rectifier himself.

"What the... that thing is Azazel?" Raven asked, pointing. There was a tiny spherical orb sitting on top of the altar, glowing with a malevolent purple light. And on the ground beside the orb was two bodies, also glowing purple. One of the bodies had a distinct black tattoo on the upper arm. The other body was badly scarred. A purple mist seemed to be draining from the two bodies only to be absorbed by the orb.

"Raven, look! Those bodies..." Zafina pointed. Raven looked closely at them and his eyes widened.

 _No way... it's...!_

"The bearers of the Devil Gene... Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama." Raven said aloud.

 **"Hahahahaha... now you realize."** a voice emitted from the orb. Raven and Zafina immediately snapped out of it and focused on the tiny glowing object.

"That you, Azazel?!" Raven yelled.

 **"Yes... and thanks to the two you see before you, I have regained enough power to return to the world of the living!"**

"But how?! Were you not finished off by Jin Kazama?" Zafina yelled.

 **"I was near death for a long time. My power source was nearly completely destroyed... but I still had one way out. I used my power to beckon the bearers of the cursed blood to me. Like moths to flame, my influence was so great that they had no choice but to heed my call. The two of them finally seeked me out and I immediately began to absorb their dark power back into my being. In my weakened state the process has been tedious and exhausting... but now I have almost finished completely extracting the Devil Gene from their bodies!"**

"Hmm... and I assume this process will leave them completely human?" Raven asked.

 **"You are correct. Hm hm hmm... at least one of them will have gotten his wish. Not that it matters, anyway. I'll kill the both of them as soon as I awaken, and then... I'll destroy this world that has been corrupted by the ignorant, selfish humans who inhabit it!"**

"Great, you're starting to sound a lot like a certain madman." Raven scoffed. He and Zafina got into stance.

"Look asshole, I don't give a f*** what you think of us humans. I've sworn to protect this world..."

"... and we will uphold that creed as long as we draw breath!" Zafina finished.

"Let's hurry, while we still have time!" Raven yelled. Zafina nodded and the two of them rushed towards the glowing orb.

 **"Too late!"** Azazel boomed as a giant wave of energy blasted the two of them backwards. The two of them hit the ground, unable to move.

"Dammit!" Raven hissed.

"Raven, look!" Zafina pointed. The orb started to glow even brighter than before. It slowly erupted, almost as if it was about to explode.

"It's happening! The resurrection..."

A dark energy erupted from the orb and covered the entire room. Slowly the energy began to mold itself and take form until it resembled that of a large dragon. Azazel was back: in his true form.

 **"Yes... YEEEEEES! Finally I am back to unleash my wrath on this dying planet. I will finish what you foolish humans started!"**

Suddenly, Azazel fell to his knees and put his hand on his head.

 **"Arrgh... my body is still unstable! I need a minute to recover..."**

In the midst of the chaos, Kazuya Mishima awoke and rose from the ground.

"Ugh, where... the hell am I?" he grunted. Almost simultaneously, Jin rose from his slumber as well.

"This... this place!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head.

 **"Hmmm... perhaps I could use this to my advantage..."** Azazel muttered. Suddenly a purple mist began to exit his body and fill the Kazuya and Jin.

 **"I can control those with the power of the Devil Gene as long as they are in a weakened state. I will give them but a tiny portion of their power back; just enough that I can command them to protect me while I recover."**

Jin and Kazuya's faces were almost robotic as they turned and faced Raven and Zafina. their bodies glowing violet.

 **"Now, bearers of the cursed blood, I command you... kill the meddlesome humans!"**

"Shit, he's got them brainwashed. What do we do?" Raven asked Zafina.

"We will fight. Be they in their right mind or not, if they oppose us they will die."

"Sounds like a plan. You handle Kazuya. I've got some unfinished business with Jin Kazama."

Zafina nodded and the two of them confronted their respective opponents. Admittedly, Zafina was feeling kind of nervous; Kazuya was one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. Raven was feeling the same way about his opponent, who had won the King of Iron Fist Tournament on possibly more than one occasion.

Kazuya was speechless as he sprinted forward and wasted no time unleashing a one two punch upon Zafina, which she swayed and dodged. Kazuya finished the combo with a spinning backfist, which Zafina had to tilt her head back to just barely evade.

"Damn it... I must distance myself!" Zafina said aloud as she backflipped and effortlessly transitioned into her mantis stance. Kazuya was wary, but after a second of analysis he rushed forward and somersaulted with the intent of crashing down on Zafina with his body weight. Zafina rolled to the side and Kazuya's body hit the ground, but he was unfazed as he immediately used his hands to spring kick back to his feet.

The two of them locked eyes for a few seconds before the mindless fighter rushed forward. Zafina, still in mantis stance, turned her back to Kazuya and used her hands to spring her feet upward in a kangaroo kicking fashion. Her kick launched Kazuya high into the air, and as he came down Zafina titled her body backwards in an arch and stuck her leg straight up. Kazuya's back crashed into her foot, leading to quite an uncomfortable landing as he plopped onto the ground afterward.

"Score one for me... but he's not down yet!" Zafina said aloud.

Raven was having a difficult time going on the offensive as Jin's mixup of high punches and low kicks forced him to evade constantly.

"Son of a... AH!" Raven tilted his head back at the last second as Jin threw a spinning kick which whizzed past him. As Jin threw the kick, he used his momentum and turned his body completely. As he spun back around he had a right hook aimed for Raven's rib which Raven had to spin to the side to avoid.

 _Damn, he's aggressive! They don't call him King of Iron Fist for nothing..._

Jin suddenly stopped attacking and stepped back, performing a kata before getting into stance and giving Raven a "come" gesture.

"You giving me a chance to attack? Big mistake!" Raven yelled as he rushed forward and threw a sweep kick, which Jin effortlessly evaded by lifting his foot. As Raven spun back around he threw a high openhanded strike, but Jin caught his hand and quickly seized his arm. Placing one hand on Raven's wrist and locking his elbow on Raven's upper bicep, Jin shifted his body weight and effortlessly flipped Raven onto the ground.

Raven shook off the pain and immediately rolled to his feet. Jin performed another kata and awaited Raven's next strike by getting into stance. Raven frontflipped towards Jin this time to cause confusion, then transitioned into a roundhouse kick, which Jin ducked and evaded. As Raven's leg hit air, he spun 360 and threw a right cross as he spun back around. Jin caught his wrist with his right hand and stretched Raven's arm horizontally. Jin then placed his left palm underneath Raven's chin. Raven felt Jin's leg sweep his ankle and the next thing he felt was his head hitting the ground. Jin stood back a few steps and re-assumed his stance, the same look of lifelessness in his eyes.

 _Damn it... I guess he's showing me that he can be just as defensive as he is offensive. His Karate is a perfect balance._ _Come on Raven, get it together!_

Zafina's battle was going poorly on her part, as she was no match for Kazuya's speed and aggression. She managed to dodge three high punches but was completely wide open as Kazuya's knee hit the femoris muscle in her thigh, causing her to stagger. As soon as she lost balance, Kazuya's fist slammed into her gut with an electrical flash. He then lifted her off of the ground, his fist still in her gut, and threw her like a shot put. Zafina tumbled onto the ground and the pain instantly immobilized her.

"Agh... I can't... even move... so much pain..."

"Zafina!" Raven yelled as he raised his arms high to block a roundhouse thrown by Jin. Raven shoved his leg aside and threw an underhand spear strike to his stomach, but Jin swatted the attack away with his right palm and threw an uppercut with his left hand which knocked Raven backwards a few yards. Raven's body hit the ground and he skidded to a halt right beside his downed partner.

"Are you... starting to... curse your fate?" Zafina wheezed with a weak laugh.

"Don't be crazy... at least fate isn't making me take em both on." Raven joked. The two of them finally got back to their feet, albeit slightly off balance.

"Wanna switch opponents?" Raven asked.

"No. After all, I've already landed a hit on Mishima. It just wouldn't be fair to switch now."

"Whatever you say."

The two of them confronted their opponents and prepared for round 2.

"Alright, let's fake him out a bit." Raven muttered. He charged for Jin with his fist raised, but right before he followed through with a left cross he vanished. Jin looked up just in time for Raven to come down on his face with his open hand. Jin was brought to the ground and continued to slide across the stone floor as Raven rode on top of him like a roller coaster. Finally Jin impacted against a stone pillar and cried out in pain. Raven got off of him and assumed his stance.

 _Heh heh... looks like we're tied now, Zafina._

Zafina rolled backwards continually to dodge Kazuya's nonstop kicks. The man seemed to be incapable of getting dizzy as he threw kick after kick.

"Wait for it... now!" Zafina yelled as she rolled onto all fours and lunged forward like a predator towards Kazuya's one foot that was on the ground. She latched her arms around his leg and yanked him off his feet. Kazuya hit the ground with a thud and Zafina continued her attack by somersaulting and smashing her foot into his stomach. A wheeze escaped from Kazuya as Zafina rolled off of him and got into her scarecrow stance.

Kazuya gave a "hmph!" and charged forward. Electricity coursed through him as he sprung forward with both feet with his fist raised high in an attempt to unleash his devastating Dragon Uppercut. Zafina leaped back and landed perfectly on her one foot. Kazuya charged and threw an electric filled right hook, but Zafina countered with a vertical arc kick which connected with Kazuya's chin and knocked him high into the air and to the ground with a thud. Zafina added to the punishment by unleashing her Ereshkigal Stomp directly onto his sternum. A cracking sound could be heard as Kazuya's cry quickly became a wheeze.

Raven's battle was starting to look up as well. Jin came forward with his Corpse Thrust, but Raven leaped and vaulted off of Jin's arm. As Raven came down he scissored Jin's neck with his legs and brought him to the ground. As Jin hit the ground, Raven quickly assumed an Indian position, leaving Jin's head exposed. He then threw a punch that had nowhere else to go but Jin's face. With Jin in a headlock, there was no way he could raise his arms to defend his face, so the punch connected with devastating force. A crack was heard and Jin's nose immediately began pouring blood.

 _Sounds like I broke something. Good..._

Raven got off of Jin and allowed him to his feet one last time. Simultaneously, Kazuya also got to his feet. The four of them had an intense staredown before Kazuya and Jin rushed their respective opponents.

"You're..."

"DONE!"

Raven spun around and his elbow struck Jin in the throat, clotheslining him. He hit the ground and didn't get back up.

At the exact same moment, Zafina threw a double spear strike to Kazuya's already fractured sternum which finished the job and shattered it. Blood flew from Kazuya's mouth as he hit the ground, also unable to stand.

"Whew... well that's that." Raven said, wiping his forehead. Zafina appeared beside him and the two of them high fived. They then turned and faced Azazel, who was still on his knees holding his head.

 **"No... I need more time! Get up, you incompetent fools!"**

But the two of them remained motionless.

 **"Very well... you leave me no choice. I shall restore more of your Devil Gene... enough that you can obliterate them!"**

"NO!" Raven and Zafina yelled. But it was too late. With a loud roar Azazel's energy flooded into their bodies. As they glowed with a blinding light, the two of them got back to their feet. Suddenly Kazuya's eyes began to glow blood red and tattoos began to form on Jin's body.

"Zafina... is this what I think it is?" Raven asked, a worried expression spreading.

"I'm afraid so..."

Horns began to sprout from their heads, then wings. Next, a tiny red crystal formed on their foreheads. Kazuya's body began to turn completely purple and talons grew from his hands and feet. Finally a tail sprouted from behind him. Jin's fingers had grown razor sharp as well underneath his gauntlets and chains materialized on his waist and left leg. When the transformation was complete, they truly looked like demons out of a fictional book.

 **"NOW! Use the Devil Gene and wipe their meaningless lives from existence!"**

"Same pattern as before?" Raven asked.

"Yes! But this time, no holding back. Use your weapon!"

Raven nodded and drew his kodachi. Zafina also drew her daggers, and the two of them rushed to meet their opponents head on.

Jin screeched loudly as red lasers erupted from his forehead like a Gatling gun. Raven focused his mind as he raced through the laser blasts with lightning speed.

 _Almost...almost... NOW!_

Raven reached his destination and immediately slashed at Jin's chest, but Jin flew high into the air and avoided the attack. As he ascended to the sky, he fired a laser which almost hit Raven, but impacted right next to him. The resulting blast knocked Raven back several yards, but he skidded to a halt and immediately got up to avoid the next blast.

Zafina contorted her body in various positions to avoid the purple lasers being fired with pinpoint accuracy. Suddenly, Kazuya smirked and fired the next laser at her feet.

"AH!" Zafina gasped as she backflipped out of the way, but the impact of the laser knocked her backwards and to the ground. Kazuya gave his trademark "hmph!" and flew forward with an uppercut which nearly launched her to the ceiling. As Zafina fell through the air Kazuya swooped up and caught her by the neck, then threw her into the nearby wall. Zafina slid to the ground and writhed in pain.

Jin swooped in and swung furiously, but Raven was able to dodge his punched easily. Jin suddenly took him by surprise by throwing an axe kick which knocked him facefirst into the ground. He then flew high and tried to smash into Raven' but the ninja quickly teleported to a safe distance. Jin continued to pursue Raven, but this time the ninja was ready. He raised his kodachi and sprinted forward. Their paths crossed and the two of them each sustained injuries as they appeared on opposite sides. Raven fell to the ground with a huge gash in his arm. but Jin took an even greater injury as his right wing was completely severed.

"Try and take off now, asshole!" Raven said with a smirk. Jin growled furiously as his red crystal started to shine with a blinding radiance. Red lightning coursed through him; he was charging up a huge laser blast.

"Oh, shit!" Raven yelled. He turned around and ran for the wall. As he approached the wall he sprinted upward as Jin's power reached his peak. Raven used the wall to spring himself forward with the force of a projectile as Jin unleashed a devastating blast. The laser zoomed right for Raven as he flew towards Jin at breakneck speed.

 _Have to concentrate... teleport... but keep moving forward. NOW!_

The laser ripped through Raven's body but he vanished without a trace! Suddenly Raven reappeared, closer than before but at the same speed. Jin was completely off guard as Raven collided with him with the force of a baseball and plunged into his chest with his kodachi, bringing him to the ground immediately. Making sure to finish the job, Raven pulled the blade and stabbed once again, this time right in the red crystal on Jin's forehead. Jin spasmed and shook as purple mist flew from his body for a whole minute. Finally, Jin was completely human again. His eyes were wide open and lifeless as blood seeped from his chest and forehead.

"Alright, Zafina... it's your turn." Raven muttered as he fell to the ground with exhaustion.

 **"Power! Return to me!"** Azazel yelled as the purple mist that escaped from Jin's body found its way back to Azazel.

 **"Kazuya! I leave them in your hands now. I grant you more of my power. Now, destroy these fools and fulfill your purpose!"**

Azazel raised his hand and more dark energy emerged from him and engulfed Kazuya's body. Suddenly, Kazuya grew even larger than before and his body changed exponentially. He was now blue with green scale-like armor covering his legs. His tail was larger and sharp spikes protruded from it as well as his now larger wings. His talons had grown and a green crown-like protrusion rested on top of his head with a gold jewel in the center.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he howled as a gold colored laser emerged from his forehead and blasted a hole through the top of the tower. The entire structure began to shake violently.

 **"No you fool! Destroy THEM!"** As Azazel's voice boomed, he fell back to his knees and panted loudly. He placed his hands on the ground in an attempt to keep his body steady.

"It seems that Azazel is having trouble maintaining his control of Kazuya Mishima." Zafina observed. "We must seize this opportunity to put an end to Azazel now."

"There's no way we can get to Azazel with that... thing in front of us!" Raven yelled.

"Then let's end Kazuya quickly. Stab with utmost precision!" Zafina yelled as the two of them raised their weapons and charged forward.

"GRAAAAH!" Kazuya yelled as he threw his arms forward and unleashed a shockwave of pure energy that blew the two of them back with the force of a hurricane. As they hit the wall with enough force to crack it, Kazuya unleashed a laser blast.

"Move NOW!" Raven commanded as they flung their bodies out of the way of the blast. The laser hit the wall and destroyed it completely, leaving a huge gaping hole. The impact knocked Raven and Zafina several yards.

"Agh, damn I'm getting tired of that!" Raven spat.

"There is no way I can handle him by myself. We must take him together." Zafina said.

"Sounds good to me. Now... come in from the side. Got it?"

"Right!"

The two of them split up and closed in on Kazuya from opposite sides. Zafina rushed in from the right and swung her dagger with a diagonal slash, but Kazuya held up his hand and pushed her back with a forcefield. Raven appeared from the left and tried to stab him, but Kazuya caught his wist and flipped him onto the ground. Electricity flowed through Kazuya's fist as he attempted to bring it down into Raven's gut, but Raven sprung to his feet and backflipped to safety.

"HAAAA!" Zafina yelled as she charged forward and stabbed, but Kazuya lunged and threw a left cross straight into her cheek, knocking her into a portion of the wall that wasn't broken and reducing it to rubble. She was down for the count.

"Shit, ZAFINA!" Raven yelled. He quickly ran over to her and lifted her body before she could fall out of the tower.

"Hey, stay with me! You're not gonna die, are you?!" Zafina groaned loudly and managed a small grin.

"Of course not, you idiot. We still... have a score to settle..."

Kazuya appeared behind them, snarling. His jewel began to glow brightly as if it was storing energy.

"He's about to unleash a deadly blast. Pick your moment." Zafina muttered, handing him her dagger. Raven nodded and took the dagger, hiding it from plain sight.

"D...d..." Kazuya stammered. He was actually trying to speak despite being under Azazel's influence.

"DIIIIE!" he finally managed as his jewel flashed with a huge orb of light.

"Now!" Raven yelled aloud as he spun around and threw Zafina's dagger, striking Kazuya directly in the jewel just as his blast was about to erupt. The result was a gargantuan explosion of energy that knocked Kazuya backwards, through a stone pillar, and finally through the wall behind him and out of the tower. A few moments of anticipation passed, but Kazuya's body never re-emerged.

Azazel was dumbfounded at what he just witnessed.

 **"It's not possible... it's just not possible... how can mere humans stand against the power of the Devil Gene?!"**

Raven helped Zafina to her feet and handed her dagger back which had been knocked out of Kazuya's forehead after the blast. The two of them stared down Azazel with their weapons drawn.

"...Hey Zafina."

"Hmm?"

"Let's get through this quick and clean. It'd be a shame to die now after all the bullshit we just went through."

"But of course. After all, we still have a wager to settle."

"Stop talking about the god dang wager!"

Azazel got to his feet and growled as his body coursed with black lightning.

 **"I can feel my body regaining it's power. Yeeeessss... I can see clearly. My feet... I can stand on my own feet. It's time to unleash the vengeance I've stored for two years!"**

* * *

 **Whew! Didn't I tell ya that was pure chaos? Kazuya's powered up Devil design was based on his ultimate form that's from the movie I believe. I think it's in his TTT2 ending as well.**

 **Next: Raven and Zafina kill them a demon!**


	33. Chapter 33: Extinguishing Evil, Part 2

**Part 2 of the epicly epic climax. Hope you enjoy this battle of epic proportions. FINAL ROUND!**

 **Oh and a shoutout to JunKing, who followed even though it's near the end now! You da man! Uh...king!**

"This is it. You really think we can stop that thing?" Raven asked.

"Of course we can! I have seen it. Fate demands that we extinguish this beast and return home as heroes." Zafina replied.

Azazel screeched and howled as his entire body was engulfed with black and purple lightning.

 **"Now you'll face judgement! My power is in a higher plane than pathetic humans can comprehend. I can kill you all with a flick of my wrist!"**

"Try it then, you ugly dumb shit!" Raven spat. He raced forward, teleporting side to side to confuse the demon.

 **"An annoying fly at best. Begone, insect!"**

Azazel raised his hand and a dozen icy stalagmites sprouted from the ground. The stalagmites continued sprouting closer and closer to Raven, but his speed allowed him to evade most of them. Finally Raven leaped high in the air and came down on Azazel.

"You're mine!" he yelled, raising his kodachi. Suddenly hundreds of tiny crystals flew from Azazel's body and swarmed Raven like locusts, bringing him to the ground immediately.

Zafina, meanwhile, raced through the ice pillars to take Azazel by surprise. She leaped high and threw one of her daggers, which bounced off of his hard exterior. She then came down on him with her other dagger raised, but Azazel stopped her in her tracks with a shockwave of black energy. Lightning coursed through Zafina's body as she lay on the ground, paralyzed.

Raven came from behind and unleashed a flying knee which struck Azazel in the face, but the dragon merely laughed, picked Raven up and threw him like a dodgeball.

 **"Ha ha ha! Even the tiniest of insects can cause discomfort!"**

Raven used his kodachi to produce enough friction to stop before racing forward. As he got closer to Azazel, he saw the demon raising it's fist. Then he realized who was laying on the ground at Azazel's feet.

"Zafina! Shit..." Raven yelled as he raced forward with newfound haste. Just as Azazel brought his fist down Raven appeared and caught the punch with both hands.

"R-raven!" Zafina yelled.

"I need you, Zafina! Take him down!" Raven grunted as he struggled to hold the gigantic arm. Zafina wasted no time rolling to her feet and picking up her two daggers. She hopped on Azazel's arm and used it to get to his head. Azazel tried to swat her away with his good arm but Zafina somersaulted over it and came down on his head with both daggers. But all Azazel did was laugh.

 **"I cannot be hurt through such trivial means. Only a bearer of the Devil Gene can stop me!"**

Zafina pulled her daggers out and leaped off of Azazel, but not before she took the full force of his crystal swarm attack. Raven let go of Azazel's arm and rolled backwards to avoid being crushed, then ran to meet Zafina.

"Is it true, Zafina?" Raven asked, panting.

"Y...yes." she said, putting her head down. "I'm... I'm sorry, Raven. I didn't want to tell you... I couldn't tell you. Otherwise you would have never come with me."

"So there's really no way to stop him?"

"In the past his power has been sealed by the magic of my ancestors, but I am not capable of such a feat by myself. We can only attempt to kill him and wipe his evil from existence."

"So this whole time you've known... that killing him would be impossible for us?"

"Yes. That is why I have fought so hard during my lifetime to make sure the world was never plunged into chaos and the seal broken. Are you angry with me now?"

Raven lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.

"You say it's not possible to kill him? Is that fate talking? Well I've got news for you. We're fixing to make our own fate."

Raven extended his hand, which Zafina accepted with a smile. The two of them then turned around and faced Azazel once again.

"I'm going to kill that thing, but I need your help."

"What can I do?"

"Cover me."

Raven sprinted with speed like he had never produced before. Azazel was immediately alerted and prepared to defend himself.

 **"It is impossible for you to kill me! You can't hurt me! You can't even SCRATCH me!"**

Azazel slammed his fist into the ground and several giant stone arms emerged from the ground. They all tried to smash Raven but he and Zafina dodged all of them.

 **"Take THIS!"**

Razor sharp crystals began to rain down on Raven, but Zafina swatted them all away using her daggers.

 **"Get away! GET AWAY FROM ME!"**

Laser blasts began to erupt from his forehead and spray the entire tower wildly. Raven and Zafina dodged them, but the rumbling of the tower threw off their footing and they fell to the ground.

"What now!" Zafina yelled.

"I need that." Raven pointed to one of the needle sharp stalagmites.

"Okay! Stay behind me!" Zafina commanded as the two of them raced for it.

Azazel continued to fire lasers at the two of them, but their speed was so great that Azazel might as well shoot at the ceiling. He fired more crystals, but they were no match for Zafina's lightning fast hands.

 **"You annoying little bugs! You're like cockroaches that are too fast to squash!"**

Zafina dodged a few more lasers, and then, with a quick swipe of her dagger, she sliced the stalagmite from it's dormant position.

"Raven! NOW!"

Raven and Zafina both used every ounce of their strength to pick up the large object. Finally, after counting to three, they threw it as hard as they could. To add more speed to the projectile, Raven teleported forward and kicked it as hard as he could, causing it to speed with the force of a thrown baseball. The sharp projectile zoomed forward and plunged into Azazel's chest, earning a blood curdling screech from the monster.

"Now it's penetrated. This is it. I'm going to end this." Raven said to Zafina. She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the forehead.

"Good luck." she said.

Raven took advantage of the monster's confusion to race forward and hop onto his chest. Raven pulled out the projectile and looked inside Azazel's chest; sure enough, his glowing orb had a crack in it.

"I hope I know what I'm doing..." Raven muttered as he plunged his hand into Azazel's wound and grasped the orb. He grunted and strained as he pulled with all of the might in his body.

"That's it... it's coming. More! More!"

The orb was slowly inching forward.

"Almost got it... I can almost taste it!"

Sweat was pouring from Raven's head and his muscles were aching, but he continued to pull as if his life depended on it. Finally, with one last jerk, Raven ripped the orb from Azazel's chest. Azazel screamed loudly as a purple light began to engulf him. The force knocked Raven back a few feet and Zafina quickly helped him up. The two of them stared in amazement as Azazel's entire body began to disintegrate.

 **"NO! NOOO! I AM A GOD! I AM ABOVE ALL OF YOU! HOW-"**

That was all he managed before he exploded into a million tiny particles, which floated upward and faded into oblivion.

Raven and Zafina sat for a minute or two to catch their breath before Raven finally got back to his feet.

"Now for the last step. Sayonara, you f***ing monster."

He placed the orb on the ground and raised his foot.

"NOOO!" a voice boomed. The two of them turned around to see Kazuya, who was leaning against the broken wall and panting loudly. He was no longer in ultimate form, but he was still in his standard purple form.

"If you smash that orb... I'll kill you where you stand!" he hissed, pointing his finger. "Just give it to me... please."

Raven stared at him intensely, his foot still raised.

"That orb has everything... EVERYTHING! My power... the power that will make me whole is in there. Just let me absorb it! I've been waiting more than 20 years for this moment! Finally... I can be complete!"

Raven scoffed and brought his foot down on the orb, smashing it to pieces. The color faded from it instantly and the leftover pieces of the orb disintegrated.

"YOU SCUM! I"LL KILL YOU!" Kazuya howled as he fired laser after laser. Raven dodged the lasers and raced forward to slash Kazuya, but he flew high and came down on Raven's head with a kick. Raven tumbled backwards and landed beside Zafina.

Kazuya's eyes burned with hatred as he slowly inched forward, an animalistic growl escaping from his throat. He began to charge a devastating laser blast.

"Raven..." Zafina whispered, holding his hand. Raven put his hand on her cheek.

"Not like this."

He stood up and spotted something out of the corner of his eye: it was the corpse of Jin Kazama.

"Follow me. Hurry!"

The two of them made their way to the body, which Raven scooped up with both hands. Finally Kazuya screeched and unleashed the laser blast. Zafina got behind Raven as he lifted Jin's corpse and used it as a riot shield. He started running forward, Jin still held up in front of him.

Kazuya growled furiously and fired more lasers. He started firing them at an exponential rate. But the lasers couldn't penetrate Jin's body as Raven got closer and closer. Raven finally got close enough; it was time to end this. He dropped the body and lunged forward, plunging his kodachi into the forehead of the surprised Kazuya.

"Y...you...bast...ard..." Kazuya stammered, a look of shock and disbelief on his face. He slowly turned back into a human as the purple mist escaped from his body and disappeared into the atmosphere. Kazuya lay on the ground, his eyes lifeless.

Raven laid down on the ground, folding his arms behind his head. Zafina laid down beside him. And for a moment... the two of them just breathed in everything that had just happened. Then they exhaled with relief.

"So... does this make us heroes now? I mean, we did stop Azazel." Raven said with a small chuckle.

"You did more than that." Zafina said, rolling on her side and looking at him. "Don't you realize what you just did? You just wiped the curse of the Devil Gene from existence. It's terrible power can never be used again."

"I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Raven, you've done more than I could ever ask of you... thank you."

Zafina reached over and began to stroke Raven's chest.

"You know... I could just kiss you right now." she cooed.

"What's stopping you?" Raven said with a smile. Zafina rolled on top of Raven and inched her face closer to his lips. Suddenly, the tower began to rumble more violently than before and the ceiling started to collapse.

"Shit, looks like we've overstayed our welcome." Raven said, the two of them leaping to their feet."

"With Azazel dead, there is nothing to sustain this tower! The place is coming down!"

"Then let's take an exit." Raven said, pointing to a hole in the wall.

"I... I'm not that confident in my parkour.

"I am."

Raven snatched Zafina up and leaped out of the hole in the tower. As he fell through the sky, he pressed his feet against the tower and slid to lessen his speed for a soft landing.

"Almost... almost... now!"

Raven got closer to the ground and he leaped off the wall of the tower, landing gracefully on his feet. He set Zafina down and the two of them turned around just in time to see the tower fall to pieces and sink into the desert sands.

"Like the tower is buried in the desert sand, so too will Azazel's evil legacy be buried by history." Zafina said.

"Well, what do you say we get back to civilization? I'm sure your people are eager to see you."

Zafina smiled as Raven grabbed her hand and the two of them walked onward to the village; this time, as heroes.

 **Okay, just... breathe for a moment. You good? Good. Don't stop reading yet, because there's two more chapters.**

 **Btw, Kazuya's defeat was based on his T2 ending. You know, where he uses Heihachi as a riot shield to get close to Devil? Ho ho, good times.**

 **Next: Raven vs Zafina round 2!**


	34. Chapter 34: Wager

The two of them returned to the village with their heads high. Raven in particular was ecstatic; no longer did he have to carry that sense of doubt over his head. Now he could truly say he saved the world.

"The sky has returned to it's natural color." Zafina said, looking up.

"Yeah, I reckon there's news stations all over the world talking about the red sky by now." Raven replied, a smile still on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Zafina teased.

"Ah, nothing. I'm just pleased I was able to make a difference. This... this was a pure victory, one that can't be taken from us. Azazel and the Devil Gene are gone and can never come back. If my old man were here right now..."

"He would praise you." Zafina finished, patting his shoulder. Raven couldn't help but beam with pride at her words.

"You know I expect you to take full responsibility as well, Zafina."

"M-me? You were the hero, Raven. I merely helped you along your path."

"I won't take no for an answer."

"You're not the boss of me."

"Hey, let's not fight about it. After all..."

A smirk formed on Raven's lips as he whispered in Zafina's ear.

"You still owe me a rematch. One with very high stakes if I recall..."

"Hey!" Zafina yelled, slapping his shoulder. "You told me not to talk about it anymore, lest you die of embarrassment!"

"That was before we saved the world. Now..."

He stopped and grabbed Zafina's hands, getting close to her face.

"...we've got all the time in the world." He started to inch closer to Zafina's lips, but Zafina put her hand in his face and stopped his advance.

"Ah ah. Now that you brought up our little wager all of a sudden, you might as well start preparing in advance. Now let's go."

Zafina let go of Raven's hands and stormed onward, leaving him behind with a look of disappointment.

 _Heh heh... she's got so much spunk. I'll never look at Zafina the same after the time we've spent together..._

When they returned to the village, everybody was already back. The moment Raven and Zafina's faces were seen, cheers started to erupt throughout the village. The villagers raced towards Zafina and all tried to embrace her, nearly bringing her to the ground. Some of them also hugged Raven as well, though he was too stoic to return the favor.

"Thank fate that the two of you have returned to us unharmed." the Sheikh said, slowly approaching.

"Great Sheikh... we have wiped Azazel's existence from the world. His evil will never return." Zafina said with a bow. "It was all thanks to Raven. He is truly the vanquisher of evil."

"Now wait just a minute. Zafina did just as much as I did!" Raven said, shoving her playfully. The two of them stared at each other menacingly until the Sheikh intervened.

"The universe is grateful for the both of you. Now, we shall celebrate your victory!"

Zafina turned to Raven.

"Please say you'll join us tonight. We cannot celebrate without you, hero of the world."

Raven scratched his head, a touch of heat rushing to his cheeks. "Well, how could I refuse? Just don't call me that, okay?"

That night a great celebration was held with music, dancing, food and drinks. Raven was quite new to such festivities, so he ate a little and merely spectated during most of the events. Zafina tried for at least an hour to get him to dance with her, but Raven stubbornly refused.

"Come on! You are being such a wet blanket!" Zafina pouted, tugging on Raven's arm. But he wouldn't budge.

"Fine! Perhaps I'll find another man to dance with!" she yelled, storming off. Raven rolled his eyes and folded his arms. As he watched the villagers celebrate, the Sheikh came and sat down beside him.

"It's a shame she is so assertive." he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Many men have seeked her hand in marriage, but she is such a tough woman that they have all felt unworthy."

"It seems that a woman like Zafina could never settle down." Raven replied. "She doesn't have time for such things. She's like me; a warrior on the battlefield for all eternity. For people like us... settling down and finding love is only a pipe dream."

"Hmmm... you make a good point." the Sheikh said with a chuckle. "I guess we would be helpless if Zafina suddenly quit her profession and became a housewife!"

"Yeah, it's a tough life to live, but it's the one we got."

"So tell me, warrior... how is it that you cope with living such a stressful life? Zafina has loved ones to come home to, but it seems like you are a lone wolf."

Raven thought for a second before answering.

"Well I used to drink a lot, but I decided that would only do more bad to me than good. Now I just think of the good I'm doing for the people... and I think of a certain someone who's watching me on the other side."

"That is very admirable of you." the Sheikh said with a smile. "It is a good thing the world has someone like you watching over it."

The Sheikh stood up and walked away, but not before turning to Raven one last time.

"I hope that the day will come when the world doesn't need you and Zafina anymore. Then maybe you youngsters can find yourselves a good spouse!"

The Sheikh chuckled as he walked off, leaving Raven red faced.

 _Please... that just isn't me, old man. Zafina would probably say the same thing._

As midnight fell, the festivities eventually died off. Soon Raven and Zafina were all that was left and the two of them walked back to Zafina's house, enjoyed the silence and the cool night air.

"I'm glad that you decided to stick around for a while." Zafina said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, well I can't stay here forever. I've got my duties to get back to." Raven told her.

"When will you leave?"

"Probably in the morning."

"Do you really have to go so quickly?"

"I think I've been in your hair long enough."

"Nonsense! I enjoy your company, Raven."

"Is that why you tease me so much?"

"Come now. I only do it because I'm comfortable around you. You and me are alike in so many ways. There's no one else I know that can relate to me like you can."

The two of them finally arrived at Zafina's house, but neither of them went inside. Instead, the two of them faced each other.

"So... you ready to settle things?" Zafina asked.

"It's as good a time as any." Raven replied. "Just one question though... why do you really want to fight me?"

"The first time we fought, you were lost and confused, and that made you weak. But when we defended the village, stormed the tower together, when we fought side by side against the Devil Gene... it was then that I truly saw what you were capable of. I want to see that again, Raven. I want you to never lose faith in your skills again, because this morning you accomplished what no mere person could. Let this fight be proof of that."

"You're so sure that I'll win before we even start?"

"I know you'll win, because it's fate."

"Well don't hold back anyway."

The two of them got into stance and circled each other. The two of them locked eyes, the only sound that could be heard the cool wind blowing. Zafina was the first one to make a move. She lunged forward and threw a straight kick, which Raven blocked with his forearm. Zafina immediately drew her leg back and transitioned to scarecrow stance.

Raven vanished and came down on Zafina from the sky. Since Zafina was standing on one foot, it was hard for her to evade the attack. She managed to leap out of the way, but she lost her footing.

 _Now!_

Raven seized the opportunity to lunge forward and throw a flying knee. Zafina blocked it with both arms, but the attack still sent her stumbling to the ground. Zafina quickly transitioned to her mantis stance.

She crept forward and threw her leg over her head, striking Raven in the ankle. She then rolled forward and thrust her palms upward, striking Raven in the chin and knocking him on his back. She quickly rose to her feet and attempted her Ereshkigal Stomp, but Raven rolled to the side and her foot hit nothing but sand.

 _This is my chance!_

Still on the ground, Raven clamped his legs around Zafina's ankle and twisted his body, bringing her to the ground. He then sprung to his feet and jumped high in the air. As he came down he bent his leg so that his knee was aimed directly for her kneecap. The resulting impact sent a rush of pain throughout Zafina's leg and it immediately went numb.

Raven backflipped to a safe distance and allowed Zafina to get back to her feet. She got back in scarecrow stance to avoid putting weight on her hurt leg. Raven came forward and Zafina threw two kicks in succession, which Raven bobbed his head to avoid. The next kick was aimed at his ankle, but Raven leaped high and came down on Zafina's head with his elbow. Zafina backflipped just in time to avoid his elbow and Raven impacted on the ground. Grateful for the soft sand, Raven got up and dusted himself off.

Zafina's pain had worn off, so she got into tarantula stance. Raven slowly inched forward, but was caught off guard as Zafina lunged at him. She threw a low strike to his leg, causing him to stagger, then she used her hands to spring her legs upward. Raven's face was right in range for a devastating bicycle kick.

After the first foot to his face Raven was immediately dazed, but the kicks just kept coming. Zafina threw kick after kick in a peddling motion, then she finally threw one last powerful kangaroo kick which knocked Raven back a few feet and to the ground.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid to hurt me?" Zafina teased, a smirk on her face.

Raven got up and spit some sand out of his mouth. Thankfully Zafina didn't kick him in the nose or mouth, otherwise he would be spitting blood.

"I just don't wanna accidentally kill you. Ninjutsu is extremely lethal, you know."

"Hmph, you forget you're talking to a natural born assassin!"

Zafina rushed forward as did Raven, but Raven surprised her by dropping to the ground with a spin and, rolling across the sand, threw a low kick to her shin. Zafina staggered and Raven immediately placed his hands behind his head and backflipped, his feet connecting with her chin.

Zafina grunted and fell the ground, sliding a few feet.

She got back to her feet, but wobbled slightly.

 _This fight is over. Come at me one more time._

She scowled and came forward with a backfist, which Raven ducked to avoid. She then threw a roundhouse, but Raven lifted his knee and blocked it.

 _That's it. NOW!_

Raven quickly outstretched his leg and clamped her shin within his popliteal fossa, rendering it immobile. With her leg trapped under his knee, Raven leaped up and threw his other leg with all of his strength, connecting with a dropkick that struck Zafina directly in her temple. The two of them fell to the ground, and Raven immediately let go of her leg and rolled backwards to his feet. He got back into stance, but to his surprise Zafina didn't get back up.

"Zafina?"

But there was no response.

"Oh shit! ZAFINA!"

Raven ran over to her and knelt down over her unconscious body. He put his hand on her neck to check her pulse; she still had one. Just to make double sure, Raven put his head on her chest and felt her heartbeat.

"Whew... thank God." Raven sighed. He scooped her up bridal style and carried her inside her house.

"I better get some water to put on her..." Raven muttered. He thought about setting her on the couch, but he decided she would be more comfortable on her bed. He opened the door to her bedroom and, after carrying her to her bed, gently laid her on it. Suddenly a smile formed on Zafina's lips and her arms wrapped around Raven's neck and pulled him onto the bed with her. Raven yelped as his eyes met Zafina's, who couldn't help but laugh.

"What the... I thought I knocked you out! You had me worried." Raven said to her.

"Well it got you in bed with me didn't it?" she giggled.

"Zafina... you're such a bitch."

Zafina smiled and pressed her lips against Raven's. Raven closed his eyes and returned the kiss, stroking her face as Zafina moaned at the feeling of his mouth. Suddenly Raven felt Zafina's tongue enter his mouth, which caught him off guard. Zafina seized the opportunity to tighten her grip around his neck and roll him on top of her.

"I've been waiting for this moment." she whispered, breaking the kiss. Raven trailed down her abdomen with kisses as his hands slid down to her skirt and quickly removed it. A low moan escaped from Zafina's mouth as Raven made his way back to her lips and they resumed their furious kissing. As they kissed Raven hands slid up to her chest. Zafina lifted her arms over her head as Raven removed her top with one quick motion. Since Zafina never wore a bra, her breasts were on full display.

"I'm yours..." she moaned.

A smile crept upon Raven's face. He had been waiting to hear that for a long time.

 **ONE EXTRA STEAMY LOVE SESSION LATER**

The two of them finally got under the sheets and got comfortable; they were both exhausted from the hardships they had endured and didn't feel like moving a muscle the rest of the night. Zafina rolled on top of Raven and snuggled on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. The two of them closed their eyes and sleep came over them.

 **THE NEXT DAY**

Raven awoke that morning with a yawn. Since Zafina was on top on him, she woke up too as soon as he started moving.

"Mmm... that was the best sleep I've had in a while." Raven said, grunting as he stretched. He got out of bed and slipped on his boxers. He reached for his clothes, but Zafina stopped him.

"Where are you going with such haste?" she asked, a look of sadness on her face.

"W-well, I told you..."

"I've enjoyed spending time with you, Raven. It's been so long since I've been with someone who understands me the way you do. Do you really have to go now?"

"Zafina, I... we have to get back to business. I've got work to do, and you've got to get back to your duties. We can't just fool around here forever."

"I understand, but... we did so good yesterday. I understand how important it is for us to perform our duties, but do you really think we can do our jobs if we don't take a break once in a while? You did a great job, and you deserve this! Please... just spend a few more days with me."

Raven stopped for a second and was silent. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"...Raven? Hey... Raven?"

A small grin spread on Raven's face and he turned back around.

"Well I WOULD get back to my job... but I just remembered I happen to be on sick leave."

"R-really?"

"Yep. And since I never get sick, I have quite a few days saved up."

"So, you'll-?"

She was interrupted by his lips pressing against hers. The two of them kissed furiously and Raven tackled her onto the bed.

"Wait, wait!" she said, breaking the kiss and giggling as she fought Raven off of her. Raven finally allowed her to get up and she got out of bed.

"What do you say you join me for a shower and afterwards... I show you some of my more **sophisticated** massage techniques?"

Raven smiled and took her hand as they made their way to Zafina's bathroom. Raven slammed the door behind them and locked it.

 _Thank God for sick days._

 **Lol, was that steamy enough for you? I hope I didn't go overboard. Nahhhh! Welp, there's one chap left! Go ahead and say goodbye to Zafina since she won't be in the next one. See you tomorrow for the conclusion!**

 **Next: The conclusion, like I just typed one line above.**


	35. Chapter 35: Business as Usual

**Since I don't like to put author's notes at the end of a multichap fic, I'll go ahead and do this now. To all of you who read this story or even just clicked on it by accident, I love each and every one of you. I have to give a special shoutout to FNAFFRENZYCAT and xWildHeartsx for being my two loyal reviewers. You guys reviewing every chapter gave me a heck of a lot of motivation. To all of you, THANKS A BUNCH!**

 **Without further ado, enjoy the conclusion to this epic Raven fic!**

Three months have passed since the destruction of Azazel and the Devil Gene. It's a new year, and Raven's life has returned to the daily routine of preventing large scale conflicts and stopping major crimes and terrorism. As the days go by, his job seems to get easier and easier. There are still some difficult times, but Raven handles his missions with his head held high. Slowly but surely, the world is on the path to recovery from the wounds of Jin's conquest. But, as we all know, absolute peace can never truly be achieved...

 **A SMALL BAR IN AMERICA**

Raven tilted his glass upward, downing his club soda in one gulp.

"Another" Raven said gruffly. As the bartender filled his glass, Raven leaned back against the bar and whistled a merry tune. As the bartender handed him his beverage, Raven's eyes turned to the tv which was showing the news.

" _At approximately 8:15 this morning, the body of the Chinese warmonger Hu Ya Pao was discovered dead in his estate. There are no leads on the assassin at this time. Following the discovery of his death, China has declared a cease fire with its neighboring country North Korea. For better or worse, peace has finally returned to the two countries."_

"Hey what's the news, buddy? You look like you just won the lottery." the bartender said, giving Raven a strange look.

"Ah nothing. Business has been good lately." Raven said with a smile as he downed his drink. As he paid the bartender and walked out of the bar, his earpiece began to speak.

 _"...come in. Raven, this is HQ, please respond."_

Raven put his hand to his earpiece and immediately responded.

"Raven here, what's the sitrep?"

 _"I hope you're still in America, because we need you to investigate an incident."_

"Tell me."

 _"Today at approximately 0900, a death threat was sent to Heihachi Mishima claiming that he will be assassinated if he doesn't give up Kazuya Mishima's location. The note was signed by Bruce Irvin, the former commander of Kazuya's private special forces."_

"Sounds like he thinks the Mishima Zaibatsu has something to do with Kazuya's disappearance. Does Bruce have any support?"

 _"We believe he's collaborating with a group of ex G Corp commandos that were extremely loyal to Kazuya._

"If only they knew..."

 _"Uh.. repeat that last?"_

"Oh nothing. What are my orders?"

 _"Your job is to find his base of operations and eliminate him! We need this done quick and clean. Can we count on you?"_

"Always." Raven responded with a smile.

Suddenly, muffled gunshots erupted from behind. Raven quickly turned around and witnessed people screaming and running down the sidewalk.

 _"What the hell is going on out there?!"_

"I gotta go. Some idiots are trying to shoot up a bar."

 **THE END**


End file.
